India hope rain stays away

looking for a proper tune-up before the three-match cricket Test series against hosts Sri lanka gets underway, India would be hoping that rain stays away from their one and only three-day practice game beginning at the R Premadasa Stadium here on Thursday.India’s first practice session was moved indoors at the National Cricket Club after rain played spoilsport on Tuesday and with thundershowers predicted for Thursday, Virat Kohli’s side will only pray for some play against Sri lanka Board President’s XI.

It is Kohli’s first full-fledged assignment as Test captain after the rain-affected one-off Test in Bangladesh and the ace bastman is keen to make to it count for himself and the team.If the batting looks good with Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay doing well at the top then the bowling, especially the spin departmemt, promises results as well.

The experience of Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra has certainly added value to the Indian spin force and they are expected to make full use of Sri lankan wickets.Kohli though may be going through a lull in his batting form but the Delhi player has always defied his critics when the chips are down.The young captain has himself admitted that even though it’s a young Indian Test side, it promises to live up to the expectations of millions of fans.At the onset though, Kohli and company will face the Board President’s XI, which is led by young Sri lankan batsman lahiru Thirimanne.

The side boasts of quite a few international names in veteran left-handed batsman Upul Tharanga, batsman Kaushal Silva, wicketkeeper-batsman Kusal Perera, rookie medium-pacer lahiru Gamage and all-rounder Sachith Pathirane.virat expects tough test seriesKohli on Wednesday said captaincy won’t be an added pressure for him in the tough assignment in Sri lanka and he will look to play good cricket in the three-Test series.

“Captaincy and batting are two aspects that I will not try to mix. I do not think I need to change anything,” Kohli said while addressing reporters after their arrival here.He said it is going to be a competitive series as both teams are currently in the rebuilding stage. “It is going to be a very competitive series from the aspect that both sides have young players who have performed well,” he said.

 India has not won a Test series in Sri lanka since 1993 but Kohli said he would not be paying any attention to this fact and will look to play good cricket.

want to beat them for retiring Sanga: mathews Angelo Mathews says his team is eager to send off the retiring Kumar Sangakkara by winning the test series against India. Kumar Sangakkara has announced he will retire from international cricket after the second Test. Mathews said, “A series win is the best way to send off a player of his caliber.”