Stands, Conditions in focus as Indian Cricket History at Stakes

                    India set to kick-start their longest home season of Test Cricket on the auspicious occasion in its history in Kanpur as they eager to set the tone for rest of the season with the 500 th landmark test in its entirety which is all set to make a start on Thursday. The home side and the visitors who are well known to tag underdogs every time are both in a process to challenge themselves to reach the next level.

             While India established themselves as an unbeatable team at home after the Series loss to England in 2012, since then India hadn't lost a test at home. It's largely due to the way spinners dominated proceedings and the visiting teams couldn't match the quality with their less prolific spinners. But large amount of concerns raised over the quality of pitches being prepared, where hardly any test match reaching the final day for the result.

             But for now India are a team with re energising under Captain Kohli and Coach Kumble, who are looking far ahead in terms of specific circumstances on offer. Were they won all the test  series under Virat after appointing full time captain in longer format and the recently concluded tour to West Indies has been fruitful by clinging the four test match series by 2-0. In this process of progress they found some healthy completion within the squad at the top order with Rahul making every opportunity count  and Ashwin's promotion to No.5 has also paid off in big by providing enough freedom to saha down the order.

          On the other hand Kiwis grown as an invariably hard team to beat in shorter format, but with the nature they posses from years it's hard them to consider lightly in the longer format as well irrespective of where they rank in the table. The visitors are now without Baz but the seeds are strongly implanted in every Player and Kane Williamson is on the footsteps of Baz legacy. While their recent tour to South Africa hasn't been a good outing as they lost the series by 1-0 to the home side, although there are some mature Innings played by Nichols in the middle order in testing conditions.

              Meanwhile here in India it's going to be more about spin and the visitors spinners has shown good intent during WT20 where Ishi Sodhi and Santner tumbled India in Nagpur and are also been the leading wicket takers during the tournament. Now it is taking another step forward for this young spinners to establish themselves at the highest test and it all depends on how long they can consistently test the batsmen on surfaces there is always some help.

            On the other side Indian spinners are well experienced and established one's and all fortunes turning their way in recent past as with their form irrespective of format. While for Ashwin it's the same series back in 2012 where he made impact in longest format, since then the offspinner hadn't looked back. So it will be another test for Kiwis batsmen against the spin trio who are coming into the series with some form and the visitors heavily dependent on experience of Taylor and Williamson in these conditions, so their chances of giving a fight to strong Indian attack lot depends on how Guptill, Latham and Nicolas support the senior batsmen.

             Although lot depends on the conditions on offer as the pitch being prepared as typical Indian track, which will assist spinners more as the game progress and reverse swing likely to play a huge role in later days of test match.

            So with the known conditions both teams tempted to go with their spin trio alongside one or two pacers depending on their batting depth, coming to the batting order Dhawan likely to miss the first test due to his moderate form in recent past and Pujara likely to be back at No.3 with his impressive double century in recently concluded domestic final.

              At the end there is lot look forward to India's long home season and how Kiwis fight to keep up with the standards of longer format. While it is interesting to see whether Crowd turn to the stadium not just due to it's landmark in Indian cricket, but with the way test Cricket is being perceived in the recent past in India.

Aussie sweeps T20's, as Lankans fought hard at the end

              Sri Lanka have won the toss in all important second T20I at Colombo and Lankans opted to bat first on a dry track which seemed to offer plenty of runs. But the party haven't started well for Lankans as Dilshan chased short and wide delivery to cut and in the end found the lonely slip. After an shell shocked silence from the crowd, Danjaya Desilva who walked to the crease at no.3 played beautiful shots along with perera and the pair tackled Starc with ease with free flowing boundaries, as Starc figures showed 0-20 an unusual scenario in the series so far.

             Lankans are in a mood to use the power play to their fullest potential, but Faulkner struck with a wicket in his first over as perera played the shot early and could only found the leading edge, where Warner sprinted hard with a full length dive and caught it with ease. From there on it is the same story that had repeated throughout the limited overs series, no one had stayed longer with Desilva as Aussies bowled with discipline and fielded with an mindset of urgency.

            In the middle overs it was Zampa who bowled with Control and varied the pace and picked up 3 crucial wickets in regular intervals as Lankans found it difficult even to rotate the strike. At the other end DeSilva fought hard to make the scorecard ticking, but Faulkner and Hastings continued to chip in with wickets to stop the acceleration.  Although DeSilva played a lone Innings to put some runs on the board and at the end he departed on 62 with two balls to spare in the Innings as Lankans posted a respectable total of 128.

          Later on Aussies started  to chase a moderate score on a pitch where there are some runs and they were circumspect in the opening over which yielded couple of runs. After it's all the Maxwell show that started to pinch boundaries, as he continued his form where he left the other day. Warner too joined Maxi with his reverse sweeps and switch hits, where Maxi made it to look to easy with his unorthodoxly shots and bought up his fifty in 18 balls which was the fastest fifty by an Aussie in T20I’s.

              Both batsmen made full use of powerplay which yielded 75 runs and the chase looked a couple of steps away as Maxi continued to pinch boundaries. When things looked all in control Maxi thought to go inside out against Prasanna, but he was early on the shot which took the inside edge and crashed on to the stumps as he ends another brilliance of knock of 66 from just 29 balls. While with only few runs to get it was Henriques who came at no.3, but he's stay at the crease lasted only for 3 balls as he tried to take on Pathirana missed all ends up the ball to kusal Perera.

             After it was Warner who departed in the same over scored 25 off 24 top edged playing a sweep towards deep square, where perera hold  on to the catch. At this period Lankans started to believe their is an outside chance of winning the match as they bowled quite overs through the middle overs and Faulkner's run-out was a result of that. But there was no scoreboard pressure on Aussie as they have amply time to chase remaining runs, although Dilshan made them panic with couple of breakthroughs in 15th and 17th over it was all over as Aussie made it with couple overs to spare.

        At the end it was an outstanding knock from Maxwell and credit to Aussie bowlers who restricted Lankans to 128, but bit disappointment for Lankans for  not finish on a high in Dilshan’s  farewell.

Lankans hope to bid farewell on a high, as Aussie's Dominating

                   The Aussies are all over Lankans since the shift in the format occurred and they are in the way to compensate their 3-0 defeat in the longer format. In the way to crunch the Lankans some records tumbled in the purpose as Maxwell showed all his frustration for being dropped in recent times and thanks to Lehmann who made Maxi to bat at the top who left with lot of time to exploit the destruction.

              While for Lankans it's not a great time going for them especially in the shorter format, they could turn their fortunes in the longer format. But injuries to their premier bowlers have hurted them a lot in the shorter format unlike to the test series where spinners made all the talking. Now it's time for them to bid a farewell for Dilshan from international Cricket, who is set to retire with the T20 on Friday at Colombo.

           Sri Lanka couldn't find answers in the 1st T20I in Pallekele, where all their bowlers went for a troll on a pitch which is flat enough to record a highest T20I score. But their major problem as been their batting throughout the ODI series who struggled to post a target that can challenge the visitors and they couldn't asked for more from their depleted bowling unit. It has been a concern for them for a while especially with the inconsistency from the top order and it's the area to resolve for them on a longer picture.

              Meanwhile it's not obvious for the Aussie to be consistent in T20’s, but Maxwell showed good signs for a bid to Compete at the top order in this format and it's also due to the batsmen followed haven't shied to throw their bat at the ball for the cause of record breaking total. In the meantime it's has been their bowlers to turn their fortunes in the Series, Where shorter format specialists made more damage with ball and bat as well. Now they aren't taking the second T20 lightly either, which is only the 2 match Series.

            Meanwhile the pitch at Colombo is dry enough to produce another high scoring game, so as it did in the ODI Series with the top score in the Series. So it's another high time for bowlers to hold their nerves on Friday.  

               At the end both sides have their own Stakes to finish on a high for Aussie it's about compensating their losses in longer format and for the Lankans to give Dilshan a farewell with a win in his last appearance for the islanders. Although the the contest gonna lie on how Lankans turn the table with the bat against cruising Aussies.

Both teams eye, to end on a High

                The home season ends up for the hosts with the only T20I on Wednesday and this time the home season has been fruitful  in all the formats without losing any Series. While the only thing the Hosts can look back at is the test Series which ended 2-2, where they could have done more. But now the only thing that might be  resembling in every English player mind is whether to commit to the tour of Bangladesh.

              On the other hand the visitor's has found some sort of relief with the victory in the last ODI, which could have been a clean sweep in the Cricket books. At the same time Malik at last broke all his previous records in England with an much needed fifty for him and as well as for the team,  who were in early trouble of a Chase. Meanwhile ranking in Test Cricket looks quite a glory for visitors being at the top, but in ODI Cricket it's a different story where they reached their lowest ratings ever.

            So the only T20I going to be much needed for them ahead of Windies Series back at their adopted home, where the series might be the decisive factor for the No.8 position in ODI rankings. While Pakistan haven't featured in an T20 post to the WT20 in India and it's going to be an quite a new setup with Sarfaraz leading the squad and,  Arthur might tempted  to test a few young players to make a pool of limited overs specialists.

            At the other end England already have a quite a big pool to select players and they want all their guns blazing for the final treat of the season to the home crowd. While Stokes doesn't want to remind him what happened in the WT20 final and he is optimistic about focusing more his energy in the moment.

            Meanwhile the pitch at Old Trafford is quite dry during the test series and it's gonna remain the same on Wednesday with temperatures expected to be quite warm. So spinners will be in play with it's big dimensions and enough help from it's dryness.

             At end it's an another opportunity for Pakistan and Co to find more talent in limited overs and for England it's an another opportunity to showcase their dominance as the format itself demands it more to come on top. While the contest lies on how the visitors able to cope with the intensity hosts are showcasing.

Conditions are in focus, as Lankans desperate to end up 3-2

                Australia have fought their way back clinging the ODi series still with an match left, after a devastating performance caused them to lose the test series earlyon. But it's all the Aussie way that seems to be working them in their favour and  with stand in captain making most of his opportunities count to be able to make his mark in the short span.

              But for Sri Lanka it's not the case as their strategy is unaffected on the visitors without enough runs on the board and Injury to their captain at the situation where his services most needed affected their chances in the crucial encounter at Dambulla. Now it made them to alter their balance of the team and in the way it made the selectors to consider Tharanga and Shanaka who struck the eyes during their unpleasant England tour.

           While the experiment to bring in Fernando has been backfired with Starc's reputation in the series, now it's a time for them to test few players at the top of the order with already the Series in the visitors balcony. Although the spin attack had done a good job to extend play as possible even with few runs on the board to defend and the hosts has found good credentials in the spin department with Aponso, MDK perera and  Pathirana performing well, but actual test lies for them when they tour outside subcontinent.

            On the other hand the visitors showed resilience against  spin to some extent with quite some brisk knocks from Finch at the top of the order and the middle order made solid contributions to the victories where Bailey and Wade’s partnership laid the road alongside some encouraging knocks from Head. But it's the bowling the reason behind, who restricted the hosts to par totals in their 3 wins. Where Faulkner and Hastings outfoxed the batsmen with change in pace and Starc's has been a revolutionary in this series with providing early breakthroughs.

           It has been all the spin friendly surfaces in test series and also in first 2 ODI’s, but Dambulla had some assistance for pacers in the later 2 matches and now it's Pallekele where it known for plenty of assistance for pacers in the island the final ODI is staged. So the visitors might be licking their lips to their strength.

          Meanwhile the Lankans have to find a balance to suit the change in conditions, where it's evident from the past that pacers gonna make the rules. So it's time for revange the visitors wanna take on Lankans and at the same time the Lankans want to finish respectfully, where 3-2 looks quite a nice a way end against the top ranked Aussie.