India likely to field three seamers, toss-up between Bhuvi and Ishant

Pandya’s absence will pave way for either Ishant Sharma or Bhuvneshwar Kumar to join Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, who will lead the Indian seam attack.

Kolkata: An eye on South Africa tour may compel India to field three specialist seamers in the first Test against Sri Lanka starting Thursday, forcing them to make an uneasy choice between Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav as their second spinner.

It has been learnt that the Indian team management wants tracks that are hard and bouncy without any major grass covering for all three home Tests -- something they will be getting in South Africa.

The centre strip which was covered with thick 6mm grass even till Monday morning was shaved down to 3 mm by the evening just to make sure it produces steep bounce.

The onus however will be on the specialist Indian Test attack to convert the plan into action.

Pandya’s absence will pave way for either Ishant Sharma or Bhuvneshwar Kumar to join Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, who will lead the Indian seam attack.

Ishant led Delhi in three Ranji Trophy games this season, and more importantly, bowled really well, picking up 15 wickets in 3 matches.

His back of the length bowling on hard tracks can be useful.

Similarly, Bhuvneshwar can be more than a handful considering the swing on offer during the early morning and post-tea session at the Eden Gardens. He was the most impressive Indian bowler on display the last time India played a Test here against New Zeland last year.

Ravichandran Ashwin is expected to walk into the side. However, there is a nice headache for India in deciding his partner. With Jadeja’s form and experience, he should be the preferred choice but keeping captain Kohli’s fondness for wrist spinners in mind, Kuldeep’s chances cannot be ruled out.

Ashwin was seen practising a lot of wrong 'uns while using the grip of a leg-break bowler.

On the other hand, skipper Virat Kohli was seen facing reverse swing throwdowns against a customised red and yellow ball.

These balls are specially designed so that batsmen can practice against reverse swing.

One part of the seam is yellow coloured and the other is red. Normally, the throwdown expert tries to reverse it at a fast pace from 16 or 18 yards.

Sachin Tendulkar used to practice a lot with these balls during the last part of his career. This practice is also common with a lot of Ranji teams including Delhi.