Team India out to consolidate

New Delhi: An infinitely superior India will be eager to carry out yet another demolition act on a below- par Sri Lanka when the two teams clash in the third and final Cricket Test game starting here on Saturday.

After the batting debacle in the first innings of the first Test, Indian openers Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul enjoyed a fruitful second innings with scores of 94 and 79, respectively.

Murali Vijay, who was surprisingly kept out of playing XI for the first Test, came into the side in the second game in Dhawan's absence to score 128.
Now with Dhawan back in the squad, it is indeed a happy problem for skipper Virat Kohli, who has to choose two quality openers among three.

Had Kohli himself opted out of the third Test, then it would have been easier to fit in all three knowing that Rahul can also play at the No.4 position. But with Kohli playing, it would mean that one of the openers will have to sit out. If Karun Nair's example is taken, he had to sit out because first-choice middle-order batsman Ajinkya Rahane was making a comeback to the side.

If that policy is followed, then Dhawan and Rahul have a better chance but Vijay's tighter technique also makes him a strong contender. India would be ideally hoping to put up another dominant show, aiming for a finish inside four days.

Therefore it will be a good chance for the likes of Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravichandran Ashwin to rack up some more enviable numbers which will do a world of good to their confidence.

Facing a Sri Lankan side, which has been nothing short of an embarrassment, is not the greatest of challenges but for world's No 1 Test side, it will be an opportunity to get some much required match practice, which they unfortunately won't get in South Africa save a two-day game.

The absence of their injured veteran left-arm spinner Rangana Herath and Angelo Mathews, who was supposed to take Sri Lanka cricket to the next level, has been woefully out of form.

By Kushan Sarkar