IND vs SL: Sunil Gavaskar Picks His India XI For The First Test Against Sri Lanka; Names Three Pacers And Two Spinners

Sunil Gavaskar has picked his playing XI for the Indian team for the upcoming first Test against Sri Lanka of the two-match series from March 4 in the IS Bindra PCA Stadium in Mohali, Chandigarh. This match will be a historic one for the Indian team as Virat Kohli will play his 100^th Test and Rohit Sharma will captain the team for the first time in the format.

Sunil Gavaskar decided to pick his team keeping in mind the pitch at PCA Stadium in Mohali, which usually helps the fast bowlers, and decided to go with three pacers and two spinners in the playing XI. He also named his choices of batters who he thinks will replace Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara in the middle order of the Indian team.

Both veteran batters Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara were dropped from the Indian squad for these two Test matches, due to a poor run of form for the past 3 years. Rahane scored just one Test century since 2020 and Pujara’s last Test ton came in 2019.

Sunil Gavaskar Reveals His Reasoning For Picking Two Spinners And Three Pacers In India XI

In a chat with Sports Tak, the former India captain and first batter to score 10,000 runs in Tests, said that the pitch square looked quite green and said that there are chances of the surface helping seamers.

He further highlighted the fact that captain Rohit Sharma in the pre-match press conference has called it a typical Mohali wicket, which meant that the pitch could help the seamers in the first session with bounce and carry.

“I think India should play three fast bowlers because the Mohali pitch always helps seamers. Also, we are playing against Sri Lanka, who are better players of spin than pace bowling. They are used to playing spinners and that is why I think two spinners is enough,” Gavaskar said.

India has often relied on an extra spinner in the playing XI while playing at home, but with Mohali wicket being a pacer-friendly one, Gavaskar’s prediction might come true.

Sunil Gavaskar’s India XI for 1^st Test vs Sri Lanka: Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav

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