LIVE: Play called off due to bad light

There is not much to gain for India, nor there is to lose when they take on Sri Lanka in yet another bilateral series starting with the first Test at Eden Gardens Kolkata.

That's it for the day!

Play has been called off to due bad light. India are on 17/3 at stumps

Play has been interrupted due to bad light

The umpires are together again. The light is degrading, it seems. They are taking the reading. It's quite dark to be honest. The batsmen walk off. Now, the Lankan players are going off, reluctantly.

Lakmal strikes again, Kohli departs 

The Indian skipper bags a rare duck. Massive breakthrough for Sri Lanka and they are absolutely delighted. Lakmal is on fire today. He has not conceded a single run so far and has hunted down his third wicket now.

Good news!

 It's a lot brighter at the moment and the players are taking the field. Floodlights are on as well. Suranga Lakmal to complete his over. Virat Kohli on strike. Four slips, a gully in place. 

After rains, it's bad light

Uhoh! Richard Kettleborough has a look at the light meter and offers the Indian batsmen. Surprise suprise! The Indian batsmen did not even think twice to walk off. To be honest it did become dark for the last 2 overs or so, both teams had agreed to use floodlights but the light there is hardly any natural light now. So the Indian batsmen walk off the field and reluctant Sri Lankans follow. IND: 17/2

Eden or Johannesburg?

India wanted fast-bouncy tracks to prepare for South Africa, well they have got one. The ball is doing all sorts of things off the pitch. When was the last time you saw a Sri Lankan seamer operating with 4 slips and 2 gullies in India? Lakmal, currently is bowling to Pujara with the exact same field. India will not get more challenging conditions than this for sure.

Lakmal on fire!

BOWLED! A wild short from Dhawan. Lakmal gets it to come back in slightly and Dhawan chops on to the stumps for 8. India rocked early on a difficult pitch. Lakmal is on fire at the Eden Gardens is yet to conceed a run in his 4 overs and has already picked up KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan.

An outside edge after 22 balls

Cheteshwar Pujara is finally off the mark, after 22 balls that it is, in not the most ideal manner though. He gets a thick outside edge that rolls past the outstretched third slip fielder to the bondary. IND: 13/1

4 slips and a gully

Lakmal is operating with 5 men behind the batsmen. It won't be a bad idea to keep one more with the kind of movement he is extracting both in the air and off the pitch.

Russell Arnold: "The last time a captain opted to bowl first at Eden Gardens was thirty years back, it was Pakistan captain Imran Khan who put India in but India replied with 403 in the first innings."

Lakmal strikes on the 1st ball of the Test

What drama! After all delay due to rain, Lakmal procudes an abosulte jaffer to get KL Rahul for a golden duck. The ball pithces on good lenghth and kicks off to kiss Rahul's bat and Dickwella makes no mistake. India have lost their first wicket without a run on the board. India: 0/1

1.40 PM IST: ATLAST we are ready for the Test match to begin.

1.35 PM IST: Wait! This might not as bad as it looked like. The umpires have asked the ground staff to wait. The rain is not heavy by any means, just a drop here and there.

1.32 pm IST: Oh No! This has now crossed all levels misfortune. As soon as the players made their way into the middle, the rain trickles in, the ground staff are rushing in with covers and Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul are going back in the shade even before they had faced their first ball of the series.

Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Dimuth Karunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Lahiru Thirimanne, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal(c), Niroshan Dickwella(w), Dasun Shanaka, Dilruwan Perera, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Gamage

India (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami

Sri Lanka wins the toss and elects to bowl first in the 1st Test #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/fO6EQabS3A

— BCCI (@BCCI) November 16, 2017

Virat Kohli: "We would have bowled first as well. Overcast conditions, grass cover as well. But we want to embrace playing in conditions where we have not played a lot. Something we are excited about as a batting unit. I don't think the wicket has so many demons in it. We have 5 batsmen, Saha, two all-rounders in Ashwin and Jadeja, three quicks in Umesh, Bhuvi and Shami."

Dinesh Chandimal: "The team put their heart and soul in it and credit goes to the entire team. We are confident coming for this tour. From the last tour, we have made three changes to the squad. Today, we are going to have 6 batters, 4 bowlers and a fast bowling all-rounder."

1.00 PM IST: Sri Lanka have won the TOSS and opted to filed first

12.40 PM IST: The toss will take place at 1.00 PM and match will start at 1.30 PM. Let's hope there is no rain.

Here are the playing conditions for Day 1

Overs: min 55

Post-Lunch Session: 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm

Last session: 3:50 pm to 5:30 pm

11.30 AM IST: Wet patches in the outfield has forced the umpires to take an early lunch, next inspection at 12.10 PM.

The super sopper and ground staff hard at work at the Eden Gardens #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/H050l54s4w

— BCCI (@BCCI) November 16, 2017

10 AM IST: There is good news, covers are slowly coming off.

9 AM IST: The overcast conditions has forced the groudnstaff to keep the covers are on and the toss has been delayed though there is no rain

A waiting game today #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/IkCcjx6Gcd

— BCCI (@BCCI) November 16, 2017

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There is not much to gain for India, nor there is to lose when they take on Sri Lanka in yet another bilateral series starting with the first Test at Eden Gardens Kolkata. 

The only long-term incentive is to treat this series as a warm-up to the much difficult challange awaiting in South Africa in January next year.

The two teams are so mismatched that a cleensweep by either side will not make any changes in the top of the ICC Test rankings, where India stands clear with a healthy 14-point lead from No. 2 South Africa. 

Not long ago in August, Sri Lanka were annihilated 9-0 across all formats in their own den by a ruthless India led by their aggressive captain Virat Kohli.

Since then, the men in blue have won limited overs series against Australia and New Zealand at home, while Sri Lanka -- still in transition after the retirements of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara -- triumphed 2-0 over Pakistan in Tests only to lose five One Day Internationals and three T20s against the same opposition.

To make matters, Sri Lanka are still searching their maiden Test win India. 

Here is all you need to know about the India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test match

Q.Where is the India vs Sri Lanka first Test taking place?

Ans: Eden Gardens, Kolkata is the venue for the first India-Sri Lanka Test match.

 

Q: Where to watch India vs Sri Lanka First Test

Ans: The match will be telecast in Star Sports network, with Star Sport 1 and Star Sports 1 HD broadcasting it in English and Star Sports 1 Hindi and Star Sports 1 Hindi HD broadcasting it in Hindi.

 

Q2: When to Watch India vs Sri Lanka First Test

Ans: The match is scheduled to begin from 9.30 am IST.

 

Q3: How to see live streaming of India vs Sri Lanka First Test 

Ans: It will be streamed live on Hotstar app and website. You can also catch all the live action with scorecard and commentary in Wahcricket.com/en

The Squad:

India: Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvenshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma.

Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal (captain), Lahiru Thirimanne (vice-captain), Dimuth Karunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Niroshan Dickwella (wicketkeeper), Dilruwan Perera, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Gamage, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Mathews, Lakshan Sandakan, Vishwa Fernando, Dasun Shanaka and Roshen Silva.