India captain Shubman Gill believes that spin bowling could play a major role when India take on Sri Lanka in the first Test of the two-match series at the Galle International Cricket Stadium on Saturday. Gill admitted that conditions in Sri Lanka can resemble those seen in India. Speaking to the media ahead of the opening Test, Gill said Galle offers conditions that Indian players can relate to.
"A big similarity is that spinners play a huge role. And that is one of the similarities playing in India and Sri Lanka. When the ball gets old, the fast bowlers and spinners play a huge role here. So in terms of that there is a bit of similarity. Differences: It depends on where you're playing in India, because India has got different kinds of soils. Here, we've seen in matches played recently that there is a good bit of bounce in the wicket, which is similar to playing on red-soil wickets in India. If you are playing in Mumbai it is a little bit closer to playing here in Galle. If you play in the north of India, there is less bounce and the ball comes on a bit slower. Here, we have seen the spinners get good bounce, and there are a lot of dismissals caught in the slips or by close-in fielders also play a huge role here with that bounce,” Gill said at the pre-match press conference.
Gill also underlined the value of having additional preparation time before the series, pointing out the demanding schedule.
“If the scheduling allows us to have at least a week or 10 days before the Test match starts, it obviously helps with the preparation. Even last year we had a quite busy schedule — playing in England and then playing in the Asia Cup, then playing a Test match in India. It's never easy for the players to be able to adapt, and most of the players in this team I think require a bit of time to be able to adjust to the conditions. It is not like a lot of the players have a lot of matches or a lot of experience under their belt, so the extra time in preparation definitely helps," he said.