Rain having stolen the scene from the Eden Gardens wicket, with its green look, a certain gloom seems to have descended on parts of the regional media ahead of the first Test against Sri Lanka starting from Thursday.

It’s as if a pop gig has been ruined by a power cut just when the artistes were warming up to it. Reality is a world apart, though. Even if the weather held its sunny side up, lending a bright glow to the floodlight pylons, it wouldn’t really have been a blockbuster. Competitive interest in the three-Test contest will be focused on the extent to which the visitors can test the hosts. It has mostly been like that. Sri Lanka have never won a Test match in India, let alone a series. Just a few months ago, while losing a home Test series 0-3 to India, they didn’t even manage to stretch any of the encounters into its fifth day.

True, the islanders have since won a Test series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates but India happen to be the world’s No 1 team in the conventional format, recognised even by their blue-chip rivals elsewhere in the world as being virtually unbeatable at home. Which is why it seems to be the most intriguing thing about this series that the Indians simply refuse to have it dovetailed into their preparations, if any, for the tour of South Africa that will follow. Wriddhiman Saha, on Monday, and vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane, the day after, let it be known that winning against Sri Lanka topped their priority list now.

The message was that the future could wait. Saha was quoted as saying that South Africa couldn’t be prepared for with lead-up games in India – Cheteswar Pujara had earlier said he was doing precisely that, though, in a purely individual initiative – but it wasn’t easy to fathom the logic that underpinned the wicketkeeper’s observation if you agreed that India too could lay out fast, bouncy wickets. That is what it boils down to in terms of tune-up procedure, but it’s all contingent upon teamwork with inputs from the think-tank.

Rahane, of course, has gone on record as saying that staying at the top is India’s primary objective but global ascendancy will always imply winning matches in faraway lands as well. And India are scheduled to go to England too. As of now, however, India ponder their opening options – Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay and KL Rahul – apart from picking their spinners. That Ravichandran Ashwin is supposed to return to international cricket with this match is big news for India, though the mystery of his exit, presumably decided on by his team, made for bigger headlines for just reasons.

There also are the others in the spin department, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldip Yadav, and if the bowling attack is a three-two one with its pace segment stressed in view of hopes that the wicket will be responsive, the first-choice 11 could take some picking. Sri Lanka had Dimuth Karunaratne, Angelo Mathews and Niroshan Dickwella hitting half-centuries in the two-day game they played against a very modest Board President’s XI on the tour but their bowling didn’t seem the sort that would have India quaking in their boots. Rangana Herath will lead Sri Lanka’s spin attack, supported by Dilruwan Perera and Lakshan Sandakan but whether that would suffice for India to be tamed isn’t quite clear.

They will miss Mathews’ bowling, given that he’s to be used as a batsman through the series. After the abject capitulation at home, captain Dinesh Chandimal said it had been Sri Lanka’s “worst-ever” series. Ahead of the Kolkata Test, he’s said his team would like to roll back the tide of Indian triumphs. If they pull it off, they’ll be making history but guarding against defeat in the first Test will be of the essence, considering how hard it can be to get up once you’ve taken a nasty toss so early in a three-match competition. Rain, it has been said, will reduce playing time considerably in the Kolkata Test.

Around lunchtime today, amid a very hard drizzle, covers spread out across the Eden Gardens turf had puddles on them. Those looking on from inside the clubhouse spoke of gloomier forecasts for tomorrow. When the action unfolds, we’ll know who – India or Sri Lanka – are hit harder by it.