CHENNAI: Impact injury to Shubman Gill. Multiple drop catches. Long toil for bowlers, especially spinners, under humid conditions in Colombo as Sri Lanka Cricket XI piled up 363/8 on day one of the three-day warm-up fixture on Friday. Safe to say, India received a hot and challenging welcome from the Island Nation to kick-off their tour.
In modern day cricket, it is hard to read too much into warm-up matches. And with good reasons. Usually, the conditions, the strength of the opponents, and other factors might not necessarily replicate the test an actual series provides. This case, however, seems different. Because, despite the talk over grass on the surface or the strength of the SLC XI, the proceedings on day one highlighted the holes in the already injury-ridden Indian team.
The first and foremost would be the fitness of Gill. Though the BCCI has said that he missed the warm-up match as a precaution, the skipper's impact injury during training is something the team management will have a keen eye on. Gill himself has had his share of injuries in the last 18 months, including missing most of the Kolkata Test which India lost to South Africa. The last thing India and head coach Gautam Gambhir would want is the captain to miss another match at this crucial juncture.
Assuming that Gill gets ready for the first Test on August 15 in Galle, the headache does not end there. There is still no confirmation on B Sai Sudharsan's availability. And with Washington Sundar already missing the first Test, the team management will be scratching their heads to put together the best XI for the conditions in front of them.
Five bowlers or six?
While the top five pick themselves among the fit and available ones — KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Gill and Rishabh Pant — the question comes on who is the No 6? The ideal case scenario would be Ravindra Jadeja followed by Washington and Kuldeep Yadav. With the offie not available, going with Kuldeep at No 7 along with either one of Manav Suthar or Saransh Jain would weaken the tail. And going by the past trend, that is not something Gambhir would want.
It means, Dhruv Jurel is likely to get another go as a specialist batter with five bowlers. In four matches as specialist batter, Jurel has 60 runs to show with an average of 8.57. Though he seems to have the backing of the coach, the youngster will be under immense pressure to deliver with the bat in this series knowing full well that he is the only right-hander in the middle-order (No 5-7).
And if Jurel continues, it leaves space for two pacers and a third spinner. As things stand, and going by what was visible on day one of the warm-up, Suthar seems to be ahead of Jain. With Mohammed Siraj a sure starter, it will come down to one of Prasidh Krishna or Gurnoor Brar. Prasidh, for all his wicket-taking abilities when in rhythm, continues to struggle with his consistency in his line and length. He bowled eight overs for 32 runs without a wicket on Friday while Brar ran in for 12 overs and finished with 1/49. Though there is not much difference in the numbers, the team management will keep a close eye on the two to figure out who is their best option come August 15.
Fielding blues
Above all, the long-standing issue of India's fielding continued to cost them on Friday. The conditions were not bowler-friendly and Jadeja, Kuldeep and Suthar did their best to bounce back in the second half of the day. However, it did not help that India dropped multiple catches at close-in positions, leaving the spinners red-faced.
It is not something India would want through the course of the two Test matches. One of the reasons for India's clinical show in 2017 was the safest catching from Wriddhiman Saha behind the stumps and Ajinkya Rahane at slips. It is essential for Pant or Jurel or Rahul or Jaiswal — whoever stands in close in position — to take every half chance that comes their way. If not, it could prove costly.
There is still a week to go for the first Test and a lot can happen between now and then. Indian team management will be hoping that things will fell in place for them to put up the strongest XI available come August 15.