Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir has urged the Shubman Gill-led squad to be ready for the for upcoming two-Test series against Sri Lanka, both mentally and physically. He also warned them to be prepared to tackle any challenge right from the opening day of the first Test.
The first Test of the series will be played in Galle from August 15 onwards, while the second Test will be played at SSC, Colombo from August 23 onwards.
The Indian squad started practicing on Wednesday morning at the NCC ground in Colombo. They will play a three-day practice match there from August 7–9.
“Guys, we know what's in front of us. We know what we are playing for. We can do the volume, we can push our limits, we can tick all the boxes. Come 15th morning, whether we are batting first or whether we are bowling first, we're absolutely ready with every answer, every question that's thrown at us, and every answer we're ready to give. So, make sure we tick all the boxes from now on,” said Gambhir in a video shared by BCCI.
Gambhir also welcomed the two new additions to the Indian squad, Saransh Jain and Auqib Nabi, to the fold. He also welcomed the new fielding coach Subhadeep Ghosh to the Indian team as well.
“Guys, welcome everyone. We've got a couple of new guys in. To start with, Saransh, congratulations, you've worked extremely hard to be here. Make sure that you make your family and country proud whenever you get that opportunity.
Secondly, I want to congratulate Auqib; you had a phenomenal last season and made J&K win the Ranji Trophy, which is a great achievement. Congratulations once again. Lastly, I want to welcome Joy as well. He's worked with so many teams for so many years. I'm sure his passion and commitment will carry this team forward and make sure that his energy levels will help everyone achieve the target, which we want to do,” added Gambhir.
Indian team will need to win all of their remaining Tests to have an outside chance to qualify for the final of the World Test Championship (WTC 2027). India currently sits at the fifth spot with a points percentage (PCT) of 48.150, while Sri Lanka is at the sixth spot with 41.67 PCT.
(IANS inputs)
