Ban in SL: First Test begins on Tuesday

Beginning Tuesday (7), the young Sri Lankan national team will embark on a Test which could be termed as the best yardstick to ascertain where its cricket belongs.

At the Galle International Cricket Stadium Sri Lanka will launch the Test segment of their series against Bangladesh on Tuesday at 10.00am.

Yes, the weather man may say that there will be intermittent rain resulting in lost play time, but, for all reasons it would be one of the closest cricket series in recent times.

Nonetheless, Rangana Herath’s men, harping on their last home series success against the Australians, will not be mug enough to underestimate the opponents.

Without any doubt it could be said that Mushfiqur Rahim’s ensemble plays spin better than the Australians.

To set foot on the paddle, Rahim has a set of seasoned campaigners -- starting with opener Tamim Iqbal who scored an authoritative century in their first time out while allrounder Shakib Al Hasan who is considered the best in that segment of cricket also got a useful knock.

In that game one could not say it was a strong bowling attack, but, the Bangladesh batsmen had a good day out with the bat.

The visitors are quite aware that the Lankans are good as any opposition when it comes to their own backyard.

Rahim explained, “We know that the Lankans cannot be taken lightly and they proved it by beating the Australians in Three Test matches in-a-row, but, this is a confident combination that we have in our midst”.

Besides, Bangladesh Coach Chandika Hathurusinghe also knows a thing or two about Lankan cricket and how the inner machine ticks.

Thus, taking a cue from Kumar Sangakkara, Hathurusinghe has asked skipper Rahim to give up gloves and hand them over to Liton Das.

Das celebrated this move with a good half century against the Lankan President`s XI.

As for the Lankans, in spite of losing series against South Africa, the Jayasuriya-Ford combination will not want to tinker much with the team composition.

With Kaushal already out of contention it is almost certain that Dimuth Karunaratne will have another left handed opener in Niroshan Dickwella.

In all probabilities Dickwella will do the job behind the sticks too.

This means veteran Upul Tharanga would bat at number seven, thus cushioning the void created by the Mathews injury.

If the jig-saw falls into place, the Lankan middle order would look the same with Number 3,4,5,6 slots covered by Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva and Asela Gunaratne.

It is noteworthy that Chandimal who was under the microscope somewhat silenced his critics with his masterful 191 not out against the visitors on Friday.

Sure his knock would held in good stead for him in the days to come.

In a seven-four combination there is room only for four bowlers.

Once again, if the Lankans decide to go by form, Suranga Lakmal and Nuwan Pradeep will handle the seam department while skipper Herath and Dilruwan Perera will look to spin the opposition out.

Herath’s sentiments on the series were: “We are aware that Bangladesh cricket is on the ascent, but, we will play to our strengths and try to get the better of the exchanges."

The second Test will be played at the P. Sara Oval from March 15 to 19.

Sri Lanka (from): Rangana Herath (Capt), Dimuth Karunaratne, Niroshan Dickwella, Upul Tharanga, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Asela Gunarathne, Dinesh Chandimal, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Kumara, Nuwan Pradeep, Vikum Sanjaya Bandara, Dilruwan Perera, Lakshan Sandakan, Malinda Pushpakumara.

Bangladesh (from): Mushfiqur Rahim (Capt/wk), Kamrul Islam, Liton Das, Mahmudullah, Mehedi Hasan, Mominul Haque, Mosaddek Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Subashis Roy, Taijul Islam, Tamim Iqbal and Taskin Ahmed.

Source: Sundaytimes.Lk