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Cricket PlayersFor Gill and Gambhir, interesting times lie ahead
Currently fifth, India can’t afford another sequence of dropped points if they are to remain serious contenders for the WTC final
Kolkata: There is a curious symmetry to India beginning this phase of their Test cycle in Galle. Last time they played a Test there, in 2017, Virat Kohli was captain, Rohit Sharma was waiting for his turn to become one, and R Ashwin was at the height of his craft. India won that match by 304 runs. It felt, at the time, like the sort of result that had become routine for them. Nearly nine years later, that is no longer the case.
That is why this Test, for all the World Test Championship arithmetic surrounding it, is also about something more than how they can reach the final. India are trying to work out what they look like without the men who gave their Test cricket its most recognisable shape.
Shubman Gill is at the centre of that transition. As captain, he must bear the uncomfortable responsibility of defining what the post-Kohli, post-Rohit India is supposed to be. And the timing makes it particularly interesting.
Deep Dive
India’s previous Test cycle ended with a home defeat to South Africa, following their stunning 3-0 loss to New Zealand. The New Zealand series was more than a bad result. It exposed a vulnerability that India hadn’t confronted at home for years—that they could be outplayed on pitches they had traditionally controlled. The South Africa defeat confirmed that this was not merely a one-off wobble.
Which is why this tour is an important examination for Gautam Gambhir as well. Not because losing to Sri Lanka would suddenly make his tenure untenable, or because winning here would erase what happened at home. It is because the series offers an early opportunity to see whether the team can turn the idea of a reset into a tangible result.
Gambhir has never been shy about the sort of cricket he wants. His instinct is towards pressure, intent and taking the game forward. But Test cricket has a habit of exposing the difference between being aggressive and being in control. That distinction will again be under focus in Galle.
Sri Lanka’s conditions reward teams that can absorb periods of discomfort. The pitch may offer spin, the heat can drain energy, and the game can move slowly before suddenly accelerating. India will have the stronger squad on paper, but that doesn’t mean they can impose themselves simply by deciding to be positive. Indeed, one of the more intriguing questions for Gill will be how he uses the resources left after Ashwin’s retirement.
Ravindra Jadeja is still there, as are the newer generation of spinners, but the luxury India once possessed—two world-class spin all-rounders capable of controlling an innings and winning a game—is no longer quite the same. Not to forget, the pitches in Sri Lanka require slower, loopier bowling at times—not exactly Jadeja’s cup of tea. That is where the tactical side of the transition becomes important.
India’s batting, too, is moving into unfamiliar territory. Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal represent the future at the top. Rishabh Pant, after his own remarkable return, brings a kind of match-changing ability that can alter the tempo of an innings.
There is experience around them, but the emotional centre of the batting has shifted. For years, an India collapse carried the possibility that Kohli or Rohit would somehow arrest it. Ashwin could then extend the batting still further. Those safety nets have gone. The new India are learning to live without them, sometimes at the cost of heavy defeats. Nothing has suggested so far that could change, making this Test all the more ominous for India.
The WTC, too, makes the equation considerably less forgiving. Currently fifth, India can’t afford another sequence of dropped points if they are to remain serious contenders for the final. A strong series in Sri Lanka would repair some of the damage from the previous cycle and give them momentum before the more demanding assignments ahead. But WTC points are only one measure of how successful this tour might be. There is a cultural problem to solve as well.
The greatest Indian Test side of the modern era didn’t merely win matches, it established expectations. Winning abroad was no longer a novelty, losing at home became almost unthinkable. Fast bowlers became central rather than supporting actors, fitness and intensity became part of the team’s identity. That era has come and gone, leaving India in need of a thumping restart. That is what makes Galle such an interesting starting point.
Sri Lanka are not simply the first opponent of another WTC campaign. They are the first serious backdrop against which the new Indian Test identity will be visible on a team level, as well as Individually. Jaiswal may evolve into a different kind of opener, Gill could find the touch that could elevate his captaincy, Pant could redefine his role, Jadeja could become the reference point in a way nobody quite anticipated, this series could finally transform Kuldeep Yadav’s destiny, and the bowling attack could find a new synergy between pace and spin in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah.
But the more revealing question is how they win, and what happens when winning stops being easy. For Indian cricket, it is the beginning of the difficult business of finding out what comes after an unforgettable era, the first answer of which will be dispatched from Galle.
