da bet esporte： India’s surprise series leveling victory in Kandy has forced a radicalre-think by the Sri Lankan selectors, who are set to make three changes forthe crucial final Test in Colombo, as the home side looks to end a 16-monthspell without a series win,
Charlie Austin28-Aug-2001India’s surprise series leveling victory in Kandy has forced a radicalre-think by the Sri Lankan selectors, who are set to make three changes forthe crucial final Test in Colombo, as the home side looks to end a 16-monthspell without a series win, whilst India set their sights on their firstoverseas Test series triumph since 1993..Sri Lanka will retain the same formation of six batsmen, one all rounder andfour frontline bowlers, but will drop 34-year-old batsman HashanTillakaratne, fast bowling allrounder Suresh Perera and left arm pace bowlerRuchira Perera.Off spinning allrounder Thilan Samaraweera, who has captained Sri Lanka A inthree successive series, will make his debut alongside top order batsmanMichael Vandort, who scored a century for a Sri Lankan board XI in India’sonly warm-up game.Dulip Liyanage has been chosen in place of Ruchira Perera, surprisingly leftout of the final 14-man squad after two modest, but by no means poor,performances in Galle and Kandy. The 29-year-old Liyanage, however, whoplayed the last of his eight Tests way back in 1993/94 in Lucknow, has beenconsistently impressive in the practice nets and will also strengthen thelower order.Such wholesale changes after their seven-wicket defeat in the second Testcould easily be interpreted as a sign of panic, but, in fact, it’s probablymore an admission that the wrong side had been selected in Kandy.Suresh Perera looked short of confidence after being reported by umpireSteve Bucknor in Galle for having a suspect action and bowled just twelveovers in the game. With hindsight he should have been rested until thedoubts over his action had been eased.With the batting having been pinpointed as the primary reason for Sri Lanka’s defeat the 21-year-old Vandort was always likely to play in Colombo and isexpected to bat at number three, forcing Kumar Sangakkara to drop down tonumber five.The choice then came down to Tillakaratne and Samaraweera for the numberseven slot. Though an extra batsman would have been comforting, theselectors settled for the positive option of an allrounder, which gives themgreater options in the field, but does not significantly weaken the batting,as Samaraweera is renowned to be a tenacious and solid batter.Sanath Jayasuriya, speaking after the team’s final practice, called for histeam to play positive cricket: “We didn’t play well in Kandy, but that ishistory now. This is a fresh game and the team must think positively and notput themselves under pressure. The players must relax and enjoy themselves.”He, though, stressed once again that the batsmen have to show greaterresponsibility: “The batsmen are in good form, but they have been gettingout in the 30’s and 40’s. When we get set we have to go on to make a bigscore.”Coach Dav Whatmore pointed out that the failure of the batsmen in Kandyrevolved around the mental approach of the individuals concerned: “There isno technique problem. We have shown that we can score heavily. However, itseems to me that we can win by a large margin, but when it gets close, wefind it difficult. Sometimes we suffer from a rush of blood.””The players have to give 100 per cent and be totally committed,” he warned.”They must adopt that attitude that ‘everything depends on me’ not on anyoneelse.”India, initially disappointed by their boards refusal to send Ajit Agarkar,which was confirmed by the Indian captain today, may now be somewhatrelieved, as they are considering playing 28-year-old Bombay legspinnerSairaj Bahutule, as the fourth bowler in place of Harvinder Singh.India, it seems, believe that the ball will turn appreciably. Sourav Gangulycommented that: “This does not look to be the normal bouncy SSC wicket and Ithink it will turn by day three.”India are therefore expected to bat first if they win the toss. “We willhave a look in the morning and see how damp it is, but right now it lookslike a bat first wicket,” said Ganguly.The curator Ranil Abeynaike, though, was singing a different song, promisingplenty of “pace and bounce” throughout the game with the prospect of lateralmovement for the fast bowlers on day one.Jayasuriya also commented that there was more grass on the wicket than therehad been in the last game England, when the ball turned sideways, and heexpects there to be plenty of encouragement for the pace bowlers. Sri Lankaare expected to field first if they win the toss.Ganguly pointed out that: “The mood within the side is good, but there wasno chance of complacency after the Kandy Test. We just want play goodcricket here. If we play well and take it session by session then the resultshould take care of itself.”He defended the decision to retain Hemang Badani after three failures so farin the series: "Hemang deserves another opportunity. He is struggling a bitand not playing like he did in Zimbabwe, but it’s not right to drop abatsman after two games. Hemang has potential and maybe he will make a markin this Test."India have not won a Test series overseas since 1993 when MohammadAzharuddin’s side defeated Sri Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports Club to win theseries 1-0. There have been two matches since between India and Sri Lanka atSSC, both of which have been drawn.