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Dilshan will open batting
First Test against New Zealand at Galle on Tuesday |
| By S.R. Pathiravithana |
In all probability Sri Lanka will have a new opening combination come Tuesday when they take on New Zealand in the first Test from August 18-22 at the Galle International Stadium.
With injured in form batsman T.M. Dilshan who scored a belligerent 60 ball 68 against the Kiwis upon his return at the NCC grounds on Thursday as an opener, it points out that he will pair off with Tharanga Paranavithana forcing tentative Malinda Warnapura to the confines of the dressing room.
The Lankans who gave over the glove job behind the stumps to Dilshan during the Test series against Pakistan have their regular wicket-keeper Prasanna Jayawardena also coming out of injury to take over the responsibility that was handed over during the Pakistan tour.
With all rounder Angelo Mathews who has made it impossible for the selectors to chop him with a string of very impressive visits to the crease, the selectors have found it difficult to fit Dilshan in the middle order with skipper Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardena and Thilan Samaraweera filling the order from 3-5 with Mathews fitting in as the link-man and all-rounder.
The Sri Lankan team manager Brendon Kuruppu who ruled out any new injuries in the Lankan camp said: “It is almost likely that Dilshan will take the top slot along with Tharanga Paranavithana with Prasanna returning to the side as the regular wicket-keeper”.
However the Lankan will face a huge dilemma in choosing their final line-up of bowlers. They have many options. They can either field a 2-3 combination and share the new ball between Mathews and Nuwan Kulasekera and go in with the healthy spin combination of Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis and fast improving Rangana Herath. This means left arm medium pacer Thilan Thushara will join Warnapura in the dressing room. However judging by Mendis’ performance against the sub-continent neighbours, chances of him getting the nod over Thushara is very remote. However for the New Zealanders Ajantha Mendis is an unknown quantity. When they met young Mendis in England during the last T20 World Cup they were clueless about the deliveries of this bowling soldier.
Then Hearth will always remember his contribution on the final day of the Pakistan first Test when he returned the figures of 4 for 15 as Sri Lanka pulled off an unlikely 50 run win making a complete U-turn of the match.
When asked what the scenario could be, Kuruppu said: “It is very difficult to make a prediction. Remember in the recently concluded series it is the pace bowlers who have been among the wickets. Thushara too has been bowling well and it will be a difficult task for the management to arrive at a decision as to who will pair off with Muralitharan or how the combination would go. Everything will depend upon the decision that the management takes on seeing the wicket at the Galle Stadium.”
Not to be outdone the visitors also have some batsmen who are shaping up well. The most impressive among the Kiwis has been batsman Ross Taylor who has scored good half centuries in his three visits to the crease at the Colts grounds and the NCC grounds in the practice games played so far. Besides Taylor, top order batsmen Daniel Flynn, Brendon McCullum and skipper Daniel Vettori who scored a century in the opening game, have come up with worthy contributions while off spinner Jeetan Patel has bowled well in both games and could get a chance of pairing off with skipper Vettori making a likely bowling combination of Tuffy, Martin along with Jacob Oram.
Sri Lanka (From): Kumar Sangakkara (Captain), T.M. Dilshan, Tharanga Paranavithana, Mahela Jayawardena, Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Prasanna Jayawardana, Nuwan Kulasekera, Muttiah Muralitharan (Vice Captain), Thilan Thushara, Ajantha Mendis, Rangna Hearth, Dhammika Prasad, Chamara Kapugedara and Malinda Warnapura.
New Zealand (From) Daniel Vettori (Captain), Grant Elliott, Brendon McCullum, Daryl Tuffey, Jacob Oram, Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor, Reece Young, Jeetan Patel, Iain O'Brien, Tim McIntosh, Chris Martin, Daniel Flynn, Martin Guptill, Craig Cumming, Shane Bond, Peter McGlashan, Kyle Mills, Nathan McCullum, Neil Broom, Gareth Hopkins. |
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