India aim for much of the same in change of scenery

Colombo offers a flip in scenery. There is no fort overlooking the Sinhalese Sports Club, nor ocean waves to catch a glimpse of. This venue has floodlights, skyscrapers stretching as far as the eye can see beyond the stadium, and the unmissable Colombo Lotus Tower, shaped like a stem with a lotus bud on top. Standing 350m tall, it is perhaps the symbol of the city's modern architectural ambitions.

But it isn't all concrete jungle at the stadium. 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 also steeped in rich cricketing history. The India Test will be #47 here – the second-most at an Asian venue after Galle hit 50 last week. There's another distinction between the two venues that will interest both teams: There have been twice the number of drawn Tests at SSC (14). Galle incentivised patience, Colombo will test it.

The sapping heat will only add to the demands, but India should arrive for this Test in the best frame of mind. There were times in the Galle Test where Sri Lankan batters could have put their side ahead but India fought on to retain their grip on the wheel.

After the series opener, head coach Gary Kirsten had reason for optimism about the health of Test cricket in Sri Lanka. But he was quick to dismiss any talk of the World Test Championship and the possibilities within it. "Anything is possible, but we need to win matches," he offered with a smile, not wanting his team get ahead of itself before a rare busy period in the format.

Shubman Gill would want those first three words from Kirsten to reverberate in his dressing room too. Anything is indeed possible, even after India suffered home defeats to South Africa late last year. The Indian captain did the maths, and his team responded with a win. They attacked when they had to; pulled back and stayed disciplined when that was the demand. India still have a lot of ground to make up before dreaming of a third WTC final appearance; but a win in Colombo will offer belief.

When: Sri Lanka vs India, 2nd Test, August 23-27, 2026

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. Once again, toss will be significant. There's also a forecast for some rain on each of the five days of the Test.

Team News:

Sri Lanka

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, where he also led Sri Lanka A. Also, he's left-handed. The toss-up will be between him and Pasindu Sooriyabandara, who made his debut in Galle as Dinesh Chandimal's concussion substitute and got out for a first-ball duck. Dhananjaya said there won't be a change in the batting order, which should keep Sooriyabandara in for another fixture at No.3, while the 4-5-6 batting 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

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. On the eve of the match, he also got to bat. Kuldeep meanwhile, sought rest on match day minus two and wasn't present at the nets on the eve of the match either.

Probable 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

Did you know?

• In the last three Test matches at the venue, spinners have taken 45 wickets – 10 more than pacers.
• Since Yashasvi Jaiswal's Test debut in July 2023, only Joe Root has aggregated more Test runs than the India opener
• India have a 3-2 head-to-head record against Sri Lanka at the venue, with four draws

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. A Test match can change in that period. We're talking about how to change that and we're training towards that goal. We would like to get more wickets in that period." – Dhananjaya de Silva on the big difference between the two teams in Galle