India vs Sri Lanka: Do Virat Kohli and co hold the advantage on a green top wicket?
London: While most of the wickets at The Oval, in London have been batting-friendly, reports suggest that the pitch prepared for the ICC Champions Trophy Group B game between India and Sri Lanka is a green top one.
Ironically, both the sides are more used to playing in conditions that are more conducive for spin, and not pace bowling.
When asked about the condition of the wicket, Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews stressed on the role of his batters, who he believes, should score the big runs despite the swinging nature of the wicket.
“There is a little bit of grass, but don’t really know as of now, how the wicket will play. If the sun comes out, it might be a different case,” said Mathews, on the eve of the match. “We’ve got to play on whatever we get. It’s not going to be an excuse. We’ve got to put up the runs on board, whether we bat first or second.”
With the likes of Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal, and Nuwan Pradeep in the side, the three-pronged Sri Lankan pace attack can pose quite a few problems for the Indian batsmen, who are used to less seaming conditions.
However, India themselves have a mean bowling lineup, one which in modern day cricket, is considered to be one of the best in the world. Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, and Hardik Pandya present a rather difficult predicament for any batting lineup – even more so in seaming conditions. To add to that, they have another top quality pace bowler on their bench, in the form of Mohammed Shami.
When asked about how his team could fare on a green top wicket at The Oval, India skipper Virat Kohli said, “It feels good that we have four-five bowlers who can change the game any time with their skills. The batsmen also feed off this confidence a lot, because you know that your bowlers will bowl very well, and as a batsman, if you’ve batted well, you know that the match will swing your way.
“I think we are in a good moment, and these bowlers’ graphs will only go up, as far as my understanding of these guys go. But it feels really good when the opposition batsmen are intimidated by our bowlers,” said Kohli.
