Rain clouds threaten India's three-day warm-up against Sri Lanka in Colombo

India will meet a Sri Lanka XI for a three-day warm-up at the Nondescripts Cricket Club Ground in Colombo, but meteorological reports predict heavy rain from Friday morning until Sunday afternoon, potentially curtailing the session. Friday shows a 90% rain probability with about 9.4 mm of precipitation, high humidity and near-total cloud cover, while Sunday still carries a 70% chance and another 4.9 mm of rain. The match is intended to help Indian batters adjust to Sri Lankan spin, a weakness exposed in recent home Tests against New Zealand and South Africa, and to allow bowlers to acclimatise to local conditions.

With Jasprit Bumrah out injured, Mohammed Siraj will spearhead the pace unit, backed by Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Manav Suthar and Saransh Jain, the latter two having impressed in recent India A fixtures. Coach Gautam Gambhir emphasized the need to exploit every training minute, warning that the weather could deprive the visitors of crucial practice ahead of the August 15 Test kickoff in Galle.