Kolkata: Sri Lanka skipper Dinesh Chandimal dropped hints Thursday that he may not use the same policy of five-man bowling attack, which yielded results against Pakistan in the humid conditions in the UAE. He stated that against India, the visitors may revert to the four-bowler theory.
“Against Pakistan, we played six batters and five bowlers. That worked really well especially in the heat (in UAE). It was never easy to play four bowlers and win a game. But India have got some really good bowlers, so we need to think about that batting all-rounder position. We will see the pitch and decide our plans,” Chandimal said during a media interaction here.
It was a clean sweep for India (9-0 across formats) when they travelled to Sri Lanka but since then the island nation beat Pakistan 2-0 in an ‘away’ Test series played in the UAE, but lost 0-5 in the ODIs.
“We all know India are No. 1 team at the moment. They have played some really good cricket in the last two years, especially at home. We have done really well against Pakistan in the Test series and we want to carry forward that same momentum against India now,” Chandimal informed.
“This will be a challenging series for us. It’s nice to be here with the spectators, we love to play here. I want to look forward. We have done well versus Pakistan. The boys are in a good shape and we look forward to take the challenge against India,” added the skipper.
Chandimal said that the team have developed some plans to tackle the danger which will be posed by Indian spin twins Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
“As a team, we have something up our sleeves, we need to execute that on the field. But what we have, we won’t talk about,” Chandimal added with a cheeky smile.
Sri Lanka has been touring India since 1982 but till date have not been able to win a single Test match leave alone a series. Chandimal said that he wants to change that record.
“We have never won a Test in India, it’s a dream for everyone,” said Chandimal. “This is my first Test tour to India. Apart from Angelo (Mathews) and Rangana (Herath), others will also play Tests for the first time in India. So the task ahead of us is humongous, but I think we are ready for the challenge,” asserted Chandimal.
Press Trust of India
