Colombo offers a change of scenery but familiar demands

Colombo offers a flip in scenery compared to Galle. There is no fort overlooking the Sinhalese Sports Club, nor ocean waves to catch a glimpse of. The venue has floodlights, skyscrapers stretching beyond the stadium and the unmissable Colombo Lotus Tower, shaped like a stem with a lotus bud on top and standing 350m tall. The stands rise no more than two tiers, some of the charm of the grass banks remains, and there is still a towering manual scoreboard, serving a reminder of a slightly different era. SSC is steeped in rich cricketing history. The India Test will be the 47th here, the second-most at an Asian venue after Galle hit 50 last week.

There have been twice the number of drawn Tests at SSC, 14, compared with Galle. Galle incentivised patience, Colombo will test it. The sapping heat will only add to the demands, but India should arrive in the best frame of mind after fighting on to retain their grip on the wheel in Galle despite pressure moments.

Head coach Gary Kirsten had reason for optimism about the health of Test cricket in Sri Lanka after the series opener, while stressing the need to win matches ahead of a busy period. "Anything is possible, but we need to win matches," he offered with a smile. Captain Shubman Gill would want those first three words to reverberate in his dressing room too. A win in Colombo will offer belief as India still have ground to make up before dreaming of a third WTC final appearance.

When: Sri Lanka vs India, 2nd Test, August 23-27. Where: Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo. What to expect: Runs for batters, fatigue for bowlers. SSC has often rolled flat decks, with teams batting first going big. The toss will be significant and there is a forecast for some rain on each of the five days.

Sri Lanka shuffle for left-right balance

Dhananjaya de Silva confirmed that Kamil Mishara will take the opener's spot left vacant by Nishan Madhushka, who was dropped for the Colombo fixture. Mishara is uncapped but has got runs in red-ball cricket for the A team.

"We needed that left-right batting combinations," Dhananjaya said of Mishara's selection. After how Sonal Dinusha and Niroshan Dickwella batted in Galle, Sri Lanka will welcome left-handed batters with open arms.

Sri Lanka also brought in Sahan Arachchige to the squad. The 30-year-old scored 72 and 127 across two unofficial Tests against India A and is left-handed. The toss-up will be between him and Pasindu Sooriyabandara, who made his debut in Galle as Dinesh Chandimal's concussion substitute.

Dhananjaya said there won't be a change in the batting order, keeping Sooriyabandara in for another fixture at No.3, while the 4-5-6 axis is set with Kamindu Mendis-Dhananjaya de Silva-Sonal Dinusha. Probable XI: Kamil Mishara, Lahiru Udara, Pasindu Sooriyabandara, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Sonal Dinusha, Niroshan Dickwella, Keshara Nuwantha, Prabath Jayasuriya, Lahiru Kumara, Asitha Fernando.

India's spin conundrum and Kuldeep's uncertainty

Could another left-hander in Sri Lanka's batting line-up tempt India to rope in off-spinner Saransh Jain? The signs are there. Saransh bowled in the nets two days out from the game, where he squared up Rishabh Pant a couple of times, and also got batting time on the eve of the match.

Kuldeep Yadav meanwhile sought rest on match day minus two and wasn't present at the nets on the eve of the game either when India had an optional hit. The wrist spinner arrived in Colombo with a comparatively lighter workload than the other spinners in Galle: he bowled 14 overs in the first innings and 11 in the second. Manav Suthar sent down 21.4 and 23.4 while Ravindra Jadeja bowled 21 and 23.

Gautam Gambhir stressed that the priority is picking 20 wickets. "We will try and pick the best bowling attack which will get us 20 wickets," he said. "You can score 1000 runs in Test cricket, but there are no guarantee you are going to win a Test match. But if you get 20 wickets, you have all the probability and possibility of winning the Test match. We will try and take the best attack that can get you 20 wickets, whether you have got three left-arm spinners in it or an offie or three seamers - we will have all our options open."

On Kuldeep, Gambhir said: "Ultimately, we know how good a bowler Kuldeep is. And more importantly, sometimes, it's up to the captain as well, where he feels that if his two other spinners can get him wickets, looking at the conditions, what pace he wants a certain spinner to bowl. And it's not about guys underbowling. It's about getting the result."

He added on control: "I think the conversation I have had with Kuldeep is just bowl your good spell rather than looking desperate to take wickets. Because sometimes, as a wrist spinner, when you are looking and you are desperate to take wickets, I think your control can go away as well."

Probable India XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Dhruv Jurel, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Manav Suthar, Kuldeep Yadav/Saransh Jain, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.

What they said

"Extremely satisfying, because when you get those younger players coming in and delivering straight away... there is still a lot of work to be done. You can't judge players by only one or two performances. Yes, there is a lot of talent and that is what they bring for India, and they delivered straightaway which is very good for Indian cricket." - Gautam Gambhir on the performances of Devdutt Padikkal and Manav Suthar in Galle Test

"In the first Test the difference was the wickets you could take with the new ball. We lost four wickets in the first innings, but we were only able to get two of their wickets with the new ball. That was the big difference." - Dhananjaya de Silva