India will face a Sri Lanka XI in a three-day warm-up match starting Friday at the Nondescripts Cricket Club in Colombo. The game serves as preparation ahead of the two-Test series beginning August 15 in Galle. Intermittent rain is forecast and could limit practice time for the visitors. India aims to improve its performance against spin bowling after recent struggles in home Tests. The warm-up offers batters a chance to adapt to local conditions. Captain Shubman Gill, KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal have already trained against spin. Several squad members will gain their first experience of red-ball cricket in Sri Lanka. Only KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja have prior Test experience there. Mohammed Siraj will lead the pace attack in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah. The bowling group includes Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Manav Suthar and Saransh Jain. Brar and Jain enter the match after strong showings for India A. The Sri Lanka XI squad has not yet been named.
