TIME TO SHAKE OFF STAND-OFF BLUES

The defending champs are pulling at all stops to tick every box before all-important clash; big hitters like Dube, Pandya & Kishan hold key in testing conditions

- SWAROOP SWAMINATHAN

AT India's practice session under lights on Saturday night, it was instructive that their batters spent significant time facing a local left-arm seamer, some spin from Varun Chakravarthy as well as Suryakumar Yadav's impromptu Usman Tariq impersonation.

In both nets, India's left-handed heavy batting unit took turns to play spin, do some range hitting against pacers but also try to flick the ball off the hips. Outside the nets, Tilak Verma had an extended session dedicated just for playing sweep shots (and, yes, both Abhishek Sharma and Washington Sundar were present). While the Indian captain said the wicket looks very good, the strip in Sri Lanka has generally tended to favour artisans over artists. Hitting through the line is difficult and the bounce may not be true. Batters who do possess the power game can get some joy but they need to earn that right. That essentially means grinding before launching. And throw in the possibility of a shower or two—there was some rain just when India started training session in the evening — and this will be a challenge for most batters.