Had India not surrendered abjectly in Melbourne and Sydney, the upcoming two-match Test series between Sri Lanka and Australia might have had a lot more interest and eyeballs since the visitors have already qualified for the World Test Championship final. Hence, in the larger context, the series is of very little significance but the opportunity to win the Warne-Murali Trophy would keep both teams interested.
Australia retained the trophy in 2022 even though the series was drawn but with the visitors missing a couple of their key men in the bowling department, an unsure batting line-up and a young spin attack barring Nathan Lyon, might not be the favourites to win the series. Steve Smith will return in captain's chair after almost two years since the Border-Gavaskar series in India in 2023 and is likely to be aggressive in terms of tactics, bowling and field changes.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, had a poor outing in South Africa and messed up their chances of getting into the WTC final. The hosts have had a dream run across formats in the last six months but this will be their biggest Test, especially at home. Australia are not a team, which will cede that easily but there's an opportunity for Dhananjaya de Silva and his side in Galle to finish this cycle in third place, surpassing India.
When and where to watch SL vs AUS Test series live on TV and OTT in India?
The two-match Test series between Sri Lanka and Australia will kick off on Wednesday, January 29 at 10 AM IST every day till Sunday till February 2, with the final game on February 6-10 in Galle itself. The SL vs AUS Test series will be live broadcast on Sony Sports Ten 5 and Sony Sports Ten 5 HD channels on TV and the live streaming of both matches will be available on the SonyLiv app and website.
The two matches will also be available to stream live on the Fancode app and website.
Squads
Sri Lanka: Dhananjaya de Silva (C), Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Oshada Fernando, Lahiru Udara, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Sonal Dinusha, Prabath Jayasuriya, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nishan Peiris, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Milan Rathnayake
Australia: Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Travis Head (vc), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster