India vs Sri Lanka 2nd Test: India reach 93 for 4 at lunch as SL keep a grip on Pink Ball Test

Bengaluru, March 12: India won the toss and elected to bat against Sri Lanka in the second Test, a Pink Ball Test, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday (March 12).

But Sri Lanka offered good fight on a tricky pitch as their bowlers reduced India to 93/4 at lunch.

India skipper Rohit Sharma included left-arm spinner Axar Patel in the side in the place of Jayant Yadav. India are leading the two-match series 1-0 after winning the first Test at Mohali by an innings and 222 runs last week.

1 Playing 11

Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne (captain), Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Niroshan Dickwella(w), Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Embuldeniya, Vishwa Fernando, Praveen Jayawickrama.

India: Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma (Captain), Hanuma Vihari, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.

2 Captains speak

Dimuth Karunaratne, Sri Lanka captain: The wicket is pretty dry and in the later part it is going to turn, so we wanted to bat first as well. We spoke about the things we did wrong in the last Test and we just want to make sure it won't happen again. Every session we have to compete with them and let's see how it goes.

“We have had good pink-ball Test matches in the past and that will help the players. Pathum Nissanka and Lahiru Kumara are not available. Kusal Mendis and Praveen Jayawickrama are playing.

Rohit Sharma, India captain: We are going to bat first. It looks like a very dry pitch and runs are the board is going to be critical. Axar Patel is fit and he is back, he comes in place of Jayant. It has a lot to do with the conditions, it is a dry pitch and Axar we saw what he did in the last series he played, so obviously we wanted to get him back.

“Unfortunate for Jayant to miss out after playing just one Test match but again we want to give guys who have done well a slightly longer rope and give them enough opportunities to prove themselves. When it comes to mindset we want to be ruthless. There is a lot at stake but we want to take one session at a time and not look too far ahead. It is going to be a challenging Test match and we got to be at it and get what we want from this game.