Preview: India start firm favourites against Sri Lanka in the second Test

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Colombo, August 2: Skipper Virat Kohli has a problem of plenty pertaining to the opening slot but that is unlikely to come in the way of India's rampaging run when they attempt to seal the series against Sri Lanka in the second Test starting on Thursday (August 3).

India were without the services of regular opener KL Rahul in the opening Test at Galle as he was laid low by viral fever. However, his absence didn't affect the team's performance and the visitors won the match by a massive 304 runs.

Rahul has recovered amply and if he is successful in proving his fitness for the energy-sapping humid conditions predicted during this Test, the toss-up will be between Shikhar Dhawan and Abhinav Mukund for the second opener's slot.

Dhawan had smacked his fifth Test hundred at Galle, scoring 190 off 168 balls, a knock that put India in command on day one itself. Mukund did score his second Test half-century in the second innings, but it could be a case of too little, too late for the Tamil Nadu opener.

If Rahul is fit, Mukund will be expectedly left out, a strange happenstance because he was the original back-up opener in this Test squad ahead of Dhawan.

For the hosts, the task ahead is as onerous as it was in the first Test. The gap in Test rankings - No 1 to No 7 - highlighted the difference in quality of the two sides and the result from Galle has only widened this gulf.

There is some good news ahead of the second Test for the injury-ridden side as their skipper Dinesh Chandimal has recovered from pneumonia and will be available for this game. He had put the Indian attack to the sword with a blistering 162 off 169 balls at Galle in 2015. It had stirred a stunning turn-around, and Lanka will be hoping for similar inspiration from him once again.

Teams: INDIA: Virat Kohli (Capt), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund.

SRI LANKA: Dinesh Chandimal (Capt), Angelo Mathews, Upul Tharanga, Dimuth Karunaratne, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Danushka Gunathilaka, Lahiru Kumara, Vishwa Fernando, Nuwan Pradeep, Rangana Herath, Dilruwan Perera, Malinda Pushpakumara, Lakshan Sandakan, Lahiru Thirimanne.

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PTI