Former Indian wicket-keeper bat Deep Dasgupta believes Team India’s biggest worry for the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka will be their batting, which has struggled to get going against the spinners. India had lost the home Test series against New Zealand and South Africa, when the batters failed to get going against the spinners.
The Sri Lankan pitches are expected to assist the spinners and there is no doubt that the visitors will have their work cut out in spin-friendly conditions.
In the ongoing WTC cycle, India has won four, lost as many and have drawn one Test. Thus, the series against Sri Lanka will be crucial for Shubman Gill-led team.
“If there are bowling-friendly pitches, we have a good bowling attack, we also have Saransh Jain now, who is a good off-spinner, and has been playing in domestic cricket for a while now. You have that option even without Washington Sundar, so there are a lot of options when it comes to bowling. So somewhere in my mind, I am not as concerned about the bowling, as much as I am about the batting,” Deep Dasgupta said on his YouTube channel.
“If we look at the batting, especially in the South Africa series, where we had a new batting line-up. I won’t say I am afraid, but I am concerned for sure about how they would play in these conditions, because it will be spinning conditions. How India fares in those conditions, how the batters handle themselves there, that is going to be the biggest challenge, in my opinion,” he added.
Meanwhile, India have named four spinners in the 15-man squad – Manav Suthar, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Saransh Jain.
The former Bengal cricketer said no Test series is easy and in current scenario, no Test match is easy for the Indian team, which is going through a transition.
“There is no easy Test series, and right now, looking at the Indian Test side, which is going through a transition, there is not one easy Test match, no matter what happens. We have to win seven out of the nine remaining Tests to qualify for the WTC Final, which is a difficult thing in itself. On top of that, it is Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka, and New Zealand in New Zealand, all of these are difficult assignments,” he added.
The first Test match between India and Sri Lanka will be played at Galle from August 15 onwards.
