Colombo: India’s chief coach Ravi Shastri said here Tuesday that the current lot captained by Virat Kohli have achieved way more than some of the teams of yesteryears which had illustrious names in their ranks.
“This Indian team have been together for two years and they are much more experienced now. They have already done things that a lot of other Indian teams and a lot of big names couldn’t do in their careers, for example, winning a series here in Sri Lanka (in 2015),” Shastri said during a media conference, ahead of the second Test, starting Thursday. The 2015 series win here was India’s first here after 22 years.
Not exactly known to hold back his views, Shastri made a telling statement about teams of the past that had players with experience of two decades not winning a series in the island nation.
“A lot of big (Indian) names have played for 20 years and they have come to Sri Lanka many times but they have never won a series. This team have done that. This team are used to doing things that a lot of other (Indian) teams haven’t done and that too overseas,” the cut-throat former India skipper said.
Shastri’s observation is, however, debatable given that the Indian team under Rahul Dravid beat a full-strength England 1-0 in a 2007 away Test series. Prior to that Sourav Ganguly’s team drew 1-1 in Australia back in 2004 and also drew (1-1) the rubber against Nasser Hussain’s England in 2002. Also Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men won an away series (1-0) against New Zealand in 2009 and drew (1-1) against South Africa in 2011.
Shastri also praised Kohli’s growing stature as a leader. “I think he is still young. I can see a very big difference from when he captained in his first Test to what he is now. I was there in Adelaide, when he captained in his first match and he is 27 Tests old now as captain. You can see a big difference,” said Shastri.
“You can see it in the body language that he has matured, and he will continue to mature and learn. For his age, he has done a lot (already) and there are signs that he can be right up there with the very best,” the coach added.
Shastri said that it’s a fresh start for him with the Indian team and he is not carrying the baggage of his earlier stint.
“I don’t carry any baggage. For me, it was like walking into the dressing room as I had left it. Nothing has changed and there were no special buttons I had to press. It was just that one ‘play’ button and off you went,” he pointed out.
Sri Lanka include Chandimal, Thirimanne, Lakshan
Sri Lanka recalled Tuesday left-handed batsman Lahiru Thirimanne in their squad for the second Test against India as a replacement for injured Asela Gunaratne.
It’s more than a year that Thirimanne is out of the Sri Lanka’s Test team as he has not featured in the traditional format since playing against England in June 2016. Thirimanne has played 26 Tests so far, scoring 1056 runs with highest score of 155 not out against Bangladesh at Galle in March 2013.
Left-arm spinner Lakshan Sandakan has also been added to the squad while seamer Suranga Lakmal has been ruled out due to a back issue.
Nuwan Pradeep and Lahiru Kumara are now the only frontline quicks in Sri Lanka’s squad and Sandakan is now fourth frontline spinner in contention for a spot in the playing XI.
Rangana Herath, Dilruwan Perera and Malinda Pushpakumara are the spinners in the squad.
The match will also see the return of captain Dinesh Chandimal. He had had missed the first game due to pneumonia. With Chandimal back in the side, Herath can now concentrate solely on his bolwing. One could clearly see in the Galle Test that Herath was not enjoying leading the side as he allowed things to drift.
The squad: Dinesh Chandimal (captain), Angelo Mathews, Upul Tharanga, Dimuth Karunaratne, Niroshan Dickwella, Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Danushka Gunathilaka, Lahiru Kumara, Vishwa Fernando, Nuwan Pradeep, Rangana Herath, Dilruwan Perera, Malinda Pushpakumara, Lakshan Sandakan and Lahiru Thirimanne