The Indian cricket conveyor belt seems to be on auto-pilot. Virat Kohli and most of his men have been playing without a break, if you take into account all three formats and the summer distraction that the Indian Premier League constitutes.
Yet, in terms of donning the Test whites, there has been nearly a four-month break since the last one, a winning effort at that, against the visiting Australians at Dharamshala in March.
India returns to the longer format with the series against Sri Lanka, a three-match affair, with the first Test commencing here on Wednesday.
In terms of pure-play, India’s back-story is excellent. No. 1 in Tests, losing finalist in the ICC Champions Trophy at London and a team that has finally dusted aside the pangs of transition, a malady that is still afflicting the Sri Lankans.
On the drive from Colombo to Galle, a highway coursing through green countryside peppered with tea and cinnamon plantations, cab driver Padmasri said with a tinge of melancholy: “No Mahela (Jayawardene), no Sanga (Kumar Sangakkara)!”
Form on the ascendant, and a rival on the run might mean that Kohli’s men just need to step onto the park. But cricket tends to defy words etched on newsprint.
Casting aside the glorious-uncertainties cliché, it is the off-field drama that has taken a toll on the squad.
The manner in which Anil Kumble was forced out from his head-coach’s position, the whispers it entailed, and the seeming eventuality of Ravi Shastri stepping into the coach’s shoes, have meant that Kohli and his troops have to consistently dish out excellence. Victories will hopefully erase all talk about an unsavoury transition within the back-room staff, engineered by the captain himself!
The Test squad seems set, riding high on a bull-run back home with victories over New Zealand, England, Bangladesh and Australia, but the season ahead is one of overseas trips starting with Sri Lanka and also featuring South Africa.
The cogs are Kohli, Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara and Wriddhiman Saha while the rest rally around these five players.
It is not that the others aren’t settled in their roles but fitness issues for fast bowlers and a combination of injuries that derailed the opening duo of M. Vijay (who missed this tour) and K.L. Rahul and form-issues specific to Shikhar Dhawan (prior to the Champions Trophy), has meant that within the certainty of a cohesive unit there is also a sense of churn.
Rahul’s withdrawal from the first Test due to viral fever opens another riddle. Will Kohli stick to five batsmen while opting for opener Abhinav Mukund or push up Pujara and make way for Rohit Sharma in the middle-order? The cards India will deal with might become a bit evident during the pre-match training here on Tuesday. Kohli’s men will traverse Sri Lanka for a month-and-a-half with Tests here, Colombo and Pallekele book-ended by five ODIs and a T20.
If the team could extend its form from a fruitful last season, it will have enough reasons to draw ‘cheer’ from the Emerald Isle that has offered that attribute aplenty the world over thanks to its famous Ceylon tea.