In contrast to the warm and welcoming P Sara Oval, the Sinhalese Sports Club is forbidding; at least from the outside. The impossibly high boundary walls and security men patrolling in military outfits are sure to make anyone feel claustrophobic.
In the past, teams have indeed felt suffocated here. The last time Sri Lanka lost a Test was way back in March 2004 against Australia and since then it has won seven and drawn seven.
All through that period, it has had a generous sprinkling of the finest stardust. But when the third Test starts here on Friday, it will have all of it wiped clear. It will mark the island nation’s first brush with the post-Kumar Sangakkara era.
With the series at stake and India on the ascendency, it is imperative for Sri Lanka to avoid a bitter aftertaste.
Problems aplenty The problems though are plenty. After Sangakkara’s retirement, the uncertainty in the batting order resembles that of the Indians’ prior to the series. The talk in the local journalistic circles has been that only after Sangakkara’s departure could this line-up be fixed. The view, even remotely, isn’t to be misconstrued as a sign of disrespect towards the departing legend, but is a dispassionate observation.
One can see why. Upul Tharanga, who is set to replace Sangakkara in the eleven — and even otherwise in competition with Jehan Mubarak — and Lahiru Thirimmane both enjoy batting up the order. In addition to the two openers how will they fit in?
Dinesh Chandimal is said to be much better than the No. 6 slot he occupies, but there is also a view that he cannot combine greater batting responsibility and wicket-keeping duties well enough. If Kusal Perera — another top-order batsman — does come in to replace the struggling Mubarak, will he also keep wickets? And a plethora of left-handers will mean more low-hanging fruit for R. Ashwin.
“We still haven’t found the best combination,” said skipper Angelo Mathews. “We’ll have to give it a bit more time. In the past two series we’ve not made too many changes. But with Kumar retiring now, we’ve got an opportunity to test.”
Mathews is likely to be without spinner Tharindu Kaushal who hurt his right thumb while batting against Umesh Yadav. But paceman Nuwan Pradeep’s return to fitness will increase his options on a pitch, which in a departure from its draw-afflicted past, is likely to sport a tinge of green.
For India though, in a near-perfect team performance in the second Test, pacers, spinners, top-order, lower-order, wicket-keeper all fired in union. So much so, that the flux has now morphed into flexibility.
“No one owns a batting position,” thundered Team Director Ravi Shastri. “Any position,” he added as an afterthought. One such flexibility experiment will see Cheteshwar Pujara open with M. Vijay missing out. Naman Ojha is set to debut as a wicket-keeper in place of the injured Wriddhiman Saha.
Ultimate aim “Shuffling, chipping and changing, cutting and changing, I don’t really mind doing that,” Virat Kohli had said after the previous Test.
“Eventually what you want to do is win a Test match. That should be your ultimate aim.”
Back on Wednesday when the team treated itself to a round of football, Kohli, right at the start, attempted a straight dash towards the goal.
He was tripped and felled, only for him to get up and send the ball from the resultant free kick scooping forwards, above the line of all defenders, into the path of his attackers. He tried that throughout, and found the goal twice towards the end of the session.
Perhaps it’s a reflection of his persona. Of someone unabashedly direct in its attempts to win. “In your face,” as Shastri tends to call it. It has so far fetched one victory. One more will give him the series; a first for an Indian side in Sri Lanka since 1993.
The teams (from):
India: V. Kohli (capt.), K.L. Rahul, C. Pujara, Rohit Sharma, A. Rahane, N. Ojha, R. Ashwin, S. Binny, Ishant Sharma, A. Mishra, U. Yadav, V. Aaron, Harbhajan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Sri Lanka: A. Mathews (capt.), K. Silva, D. Karunaratne, L. Thirimanne, U. Tharanga, D. Chandimal, J. Mubarak, D. Prasad, T. Kaushal, R. Herath, D. Chammera, K. Perera, N. Pradeep, D. Perera, V. Fernando.
Umpires: Nigel Llong & Rod Tucker; TV Umpire: Raveendra Wimalasiri; Match Referee: Andy Pycroft.
Match starts at 10 a.m. IST.
