Kolkata: All eyes will be on veteran Sri Lankan all-rounder Angelo Mathews as the visitors start their India tour with a two-day warm-up game against a third-string Board President’s XI (BPXI) here, Saturday.
Mathews did not play in the ‘away’ series against Pakistan at Abu Dhabi as he was recuperating from a calf muscle injury. Hence he will definitely like to spend some quality time in the middle before the first Test which begins here, November 16.
Mathews and Rangana Herath are the only two Sri Lankans in the present squad to have toured India when they visited the country during the 2009-10 season. For the rest it will be a ‘first time’ and hence, they will certainly try and adjust to the conditions as quickly as they can.
The others to watch out in the visitors’ squad are skipper Dinesh Chandimal, Nirosan Dickwella, Dimuth Karunaratne – all of whom have been in good form with the bat in the recent series against Pakistan. Herath will once more lead the spin department with ‘chinaman’ bowler Lakshan Sandakan, who picked up five wickets against the visiting Indians in the third Test at Pallekele in August.
Keeping in mind, the busy domestic schedule, the BCCI has picked a side comprising players from states who don’t have any engagements. So it will be a great opportunity for batsmen like Sanju Samson, Jiwanjot Singh, Anmolpreet Singh (he recently got a career-best 267 against Chhattisgarh) and Abhishek Gupta. Among the BPXI bowlers, Kerala pacer Sandeep Warrier will be the one to look out while the spin department will be led by veteran left-arm spinner Jalaj Saxena. However, more than spin, the Jadavpur University Campus Ground deck is known to favour pacers.
Captain Samson, however, told reporters here Friday that they were taking the match as an opportunity to show their mettle. He also said that it will be a learning process for all of them when they tackle a spinner as wily as Herath.
“He (Herath) is a very experienced cricketer. It is a practice match for him but for us it’s a great opportunity to face him. He is one of their legends and to go there and play against him will be a great experience,” Samson said.
“It is a practice match for them (Sri Lankans) but not for us. We will be looking forward to beat them, we are lucky to get a good opportunity and we want to utilise it to the fullest,” he added.
For Samson, this is a great chance to make a statement to national selectors with a solid performance.
“Each and every individual in the team has put his heart together for past many years to perform at this level. It’s just one match but we should look at it as a platform to make a mark to the selectors,” asserted the Kerala cricketer who was appointed skipper after first-choice captain Naman Ojha pulled out of the game with an injury.
