5 reasons why Sri Lanka can pose a threat to India

Sri Lanka can exploit the weariness of some Indian players

R Ashwin has been active in County cricket

There is nothing which can replace match time. Especially match time at the international level. There are many players in this Indian test team who in recent times have become test match specialists.

The Indian bowling line-up - Ravi Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami have hardly had any game time for India barring a few ODIs which Yadav and Shami played against Australia.

Going into the test series after playing for their respective Ranji trophy sides, and Ashwin having had a good run in the county circuit for Worcestershire, these players are not out of game time. But there will most certainly weariness the bowlers would show when they play for India in this series after a gap of about 4 months.

This is where Sri Lanka’s batsmen would have to react quickly, capitalise on the situation and make sure the bowlers don’t settle into a rhythm. Because once they do, India will most certainly get on top in this contest.

Sri Lanka's batsmen like Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal and Niroshan Dickwella play spin pretty well and they should look at exploiting the weariness shown by Jadeja and Ashwin right from the beginning of the series to get a physcological advantage over them.

Also someone like Cheteshwar Pujara who will be seen in Indian colors after a gap of 4 months or so, has the tenadancy to fiddle outside the off-stump early on his innings. If Sri Lanka can exploit that weakness in Pujara's technique with using Gamage, Lakmal and Mathews effectively then they can pose a threat to India.

India bats upto number 6 position with Ashwin, Pandya and Jadeja to follow. So the regular specalist batsman's responsibility increases and if Sri Lanka can exploit this to their advantage then probably they can restrict the Indians to lower totals, thus increasing their chances of challenging India.