India will resume their bid to qualify for next year’s World Test Championship final when they begin a two-Test series against Sri Lanka in Galle on Saturday. The Shubman Gill-led side will enter the series opener after a warm-up game last week, with a decision still to be made on who partners Mohammed Siraj as the second pacer.The 26-year-old praised Gurnoor Brar for his ability to extract something from the old ball, while admitting that he has rarely seen Prasidh Krishna bowl better.“They both are very skilled bowlers, and they bowled really well in the practice match. We have seen how good Gurnoor is with the old ball when nothing is happening,” Gill said in the pre-match press conference on Friday.“You need that extra pace, extra bounce. He’s obviously very tall as well. But I think Prasidh recently has been bowling the best that I have ever seen him bowl. In the red ball and also in white ball. So it would be a very tough decision for us to be able to just pick one”.“Bumrah is not here. But I think it is a really good opportunity for some of the other bowlers to really step up and leave a mark on the series,” he added.Gill also spoke about the possibility of the pitch offering little assistance to the bowlers in the early stages of the Test and the need to find different ways of taking wickets.“The Test itself is a little bit slow. So, you have to keep trying different things to be able to take wickets, especially in the subcontinent. You have to create opportunities, especially on Day 1 and Day 2.”Story continues below this ad“If there is not much happening from the wicket, how can you create pressure? How can you not let the game slip away too much from you? So yes, having those kinds of creative fields helps our bowlers,” Gill said.He also praised Manav Suthar, not just for his bowling ability but for what he can offer with the bat lower down the order.“He’s got the ability with the bat. We know he can bat, obviously. At this level, you need a bit of experience. You need some belief and confidence, and that will only come once you’re out there, you’re playing, you score some runs. Hopefully, he does that in the series. He is someone with great skill with bowling, and he’s got the potential to be able to be a really good number eight batsman as well”.“The thing is that a batsman’s bowling comes only when the other team is playing at 400-500 runs. So, it doesn’t matter if the batsman takes a wicket or not at that time. But a bowler’s batting has to come, especially in a Test match where you see that the other team will have to be all out. So, number seven, eight, nine or even 10 — you know that their batting will mostly come in nine out of 10 Test matches. So, their 10 runs, 20 runs, 30 runs- that contribution becomes important, especially in the first innings,” he added.Story continues below this adGill also stressed the importance of adequate preparation time before a Test series, particularly for players who take time adapting to different conditions.“If we do have an opportunity and if the scheduling allows us to have at least a week or 10 days before the Test match starts, it obviously helps with the preparation. Even last year, we had quite a busy schedule in terms of travelling — playing in England, then playing the Asia Cup, then playing the Test matches in India, going to Australia and then playing the Test match within four days of coming back from Australia.”“So, it is never easy for the players to be able to adapt. Most of the players in this team, I think, require a bit of time to be able to adjust to the conditions. It’s 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,” he said.Stay updated with the latest sports news across Cricket, Football, Chess, and more. Catch all the action with real-time live cricket score updates and in-depth coverage of ongoing matches.Tags:Prasidh Krishna