India will be battling it out with Sri Lanka in the third and final Test match of the three-match series starting from Friday at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo. The visitors have a number of issues, which needs to be dealt before the start of the day's play. One of them is their batting order, which has been in news for quite some time, and especially the no.3 position.
But India's head coach Ravi Shastri said it loud and clear on Thursday that no one in the team owns a position. And the batting order will continue to remain flexible according to the situation.
"In this team, no one owns a batting position. It all depends on the situation. We will play horses for courses and see what the situation and the opposition demands. Accordingly, we will see what the best batting position in the side is for each batsman against that particular outfit and seeing the state of the series," Shastri told reporters at a press conference in Colombo on Thursday.
Shastri also termed the team's bowling performance in the 2nd Test match as "the best in the last two years." The interim team director is also hopeful that the bowlers would come up with a similar performance in the third and final Test match against Sri Lanka in Colombo. India had picked up seven wickets in the first session of Day 5 in the second Test and the last Sri Lankan wicket post lunch to hand Sri Lanka a drubbing by 278 runs. It was the best bowling performance I have seen from the unit in the last couple of years. Especially on second and third day, where in parts, they didn't get any wickets but the discipline was there. They kept on the pressure and when wickets started falling it showed. So they can do the same in this match and I don't see why not, because they did it in the last Test," he said.
Shastri stressed on the fact that they will only be playing to win the third and final Test match and clinch the series, which would end the 22-year wait of winning a Test series in the Lankan Island.
"Nothing has changed from Galle. We play only for one reason and we play to win. Now we are in a position where if we can win this Test, we win the series, which is massive. So there is no point being shy of going for a win. At the same time, it is a case of not being overconfident. We need the right balance and we need to play proper cricket like we did in the last Test. In 23 years, even I have forgotten. I know it is 1-1 now and we have a chance to win. We will take one day at a time and we have to focus on the basics," the former India captain added.
