Sri Lanka's long-suffering fans saw a sliver of hope when Dinesh Chandimal and his men blanked Pakistan 2-0 in the United Arab Emirates in October before embarking on their bid to win a maiden Test on Indian soil. "Before we came here, we had a gameplan," Chandimal said after Sri Lanka's worst defeat in Test cricket in which they scored less than 19 runs per wicket. That's why we asked for pitches with help for the fast bowlers," Kohli said after the Nagpur romp. Also read Would Glenn McGrath have outfoxed Virat Kohli? India are heavy favourites to win again but only need a draw to tie England and Australia for the record for most consecutive Test series wins and Chandimal's men would have to conjure up something extraordinary to deny the hosts.

Source: dna November 30, 2017 14:59 UTC