India are in fifth spot and need to win almost all of their remaining games to enter the final at The Oval in June 2027. skipper Shubman Gill made it clear that his primary focus remains firmly fixed on securing a berth in the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) final While the historical numbers add considerable interest to the fixture starting on India’s Independence Day. When India will take on Sri Lanka in the opening Test at the picturesque Galle International Cricket Stadium on Saturday, it will also mark India’s landmark 600th Test match and the 50th game at the historic venue.
So in terms of that, I think this is a very important series for us, and we have had the right kind of preparation leading up to the series,” Gill told reporters on the eve of the match. “Obviously, the main goal is to play the World Test Championship final, which is next year. We have got about nine Tests, and I think we have to win around six or seven to have a good chance of qualifying. “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,” added Gill. He also had immense confidence in the squad’s fast bowling department despite the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, and had special praise for pacer Prasidh Krishna. “Gurnoor Brar is excellent as he can extract bounce with an old ball at a good pace, but Prasidh Krishna is bowling well of late, as we have seen in the warm-up match. So it’s a tough call. Prasidh has recently been bowling the best that I have ever seen him bowl. “There could be a chance that there is not much happening from the wickets. So how can you create pressure? How can you keep the game from slipping away too much from you? Having those kinds of creative fields is important.”
