India bowling coach Morne Morkel believes that in the first Test against Sri Lanka, starting on Saturday at Galle, the biggest challenge for the visitors will be the heat and humidity. The former South Africa pacer also said that once the Kookaburra ball loses its hardness, how the Indian quick bowlers bowl will impact the outcome of the contest in a big way. Having said that, Morkel is confident that the Indian fast bowlers — Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna the likely pacers for the first game — will give a good account of themselves.
“Prasidh, Siraj, they've played a lot of cricket back home, where it's also tough bowling conditions. I think coming here, our skill is there, the planning will be there but the biggest challenge will be the heat and humidity.
“The Kookaburra ball, going back to that, once it gets a little bit softer… how we can stack up overs together with intensity and create that pressure. Because we haven't played a lot of red-ball cricket in the last couple of months, going back into that is going to be a challenge,” Morkel told the media on Thursday.
India last played a Test match in early June against Afghanistan at the New Chandigarh Stadium, and before that, they were in action in the longest format against South Africa at home in November -- nine months ago. Clearly, getting used to the format is going to take some time. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, played a two-game Test rubber in June-July in the West Indies.
KL to be the leading light in batting
Morkel also expects KL Rahul to play a leading role. Rahul, after the retirement of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli from Tests last year, has become the most reliable batsman for India in the format thanks to his temperament and technique. He has done very well in the last couple of years as an opener. Plus, in 2017, he did well in the two games that he got in Sri Lanka. So there is no surprise that the spotlight will be on him.
{{/usCountry}}Morkel also expects KL Rahul to play a leading role. Rahul, after the retirement of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli from Tests last year, has become the most reliable batsman for India in the format thanks to his temperament and technique. He has done very well in the last couple of years as an opener. Plus, in 2017, he did well in the two games that he got in Sri Lanka. So there is no surprise that the spotlight will be on him.
{{/usCountry}}“I think KL, the last couple of years, the way he's been leading up front with the batting has been exceptional. And that's the sort of communication that we expect him to speak to the guys here in the preparation, [like] at the nets what to expect. But I think our guys have learned a lot about their games individually over the last couple of months. And that's one of the reasons why we've come out here 10 days earlier, to give the guys the best opportunity to prepare and to work on their individual game plans. Just to figure out how they're going to score on the surface here,” Morkel said.