Colombo: Their home Test run in the recent past may not have been particularly impressive but India head coach Gautam Gambhir has asserted that his team will be ready with all the answers when the two-Test series against Sri Lanka gets underway here from August 15.
In a short address to the team before a practice session here, Gambhir also welcomed the new entrants — spin-bowling all-rounder Saransh Jain and pacer Auqib Nabi.
“We know what’s in front of us, we know what we are playing for. We can do the volume, we can push our limits, we can tick all the boxes,” Gambhir said in the video shared by BCCI on social media.
With India’s WTC campaign gathering pace and the team placed fifth in the standings, Gambhir emphasised that thorough preparation over the next few days would be crucial to succeeding in Sri Lanka’s spin-friendly conditions.
India held its first training session at Colombo’s Nondescripts Cricket Club ground on Wednesday and will next play a three-day warm-up game against a Sri Lanka XI from Friday to Sunday, August 9.
The team will then travel to Galle for the opening Test, which begins on Saturday, August 15.
“Guys, we know what is in front of us. We know what we are playing for. We can do the volume, we can push our limits, we can tick all the boxes. Come 15th morning, whether we are batting first or whether we are bowling first, we are absolutely ready with every answer, every question that is thrown at us, and every answer we are ready to give,” Gambhir said while speaking to the team.
“So make sure we tick all the boxes from now on,” Gambhir said.
The warm-up game has taken on added significance in the wake of India’s recent struggles against quality spin. While multiple frontline batters, including skipper Shubman Gill, KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal, had already started fine-tuning their approach against spin before arriving in Sri Lanka, the three-day game is expected to offer a valuable chance to adapt to the local conditions.
