Cricket

Sri Lanka vs India, 3rd Test: Preview

Sri Lanka and India will be playing the third test at the historical P Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo from tomorrow. This is the same ground where the Lankans beat the Indians for the first time in tests in their history in the 80s. Also since test cricket returned here in 2002, the home team haven’t lost a match here.

This will bode well for them then because they lost the last test, as they take on a resurgent India who lost the first test by an innings margin. They have some rebuilding to do after the last test and thus  anew pitch will be laid out to greet the two teams, the likes of which one rarely sees in that country. A fast and bouncy pitch awaits the two teams, with the curator promising something for everybody.

Sri Lanka have decided to stick on with Michael Vandort, who has scored just 17 runs in three innings so far but Nuwan Kulasekara, who has taken one wicket in the two Tests, has been left out. They are yet to decide whether they to pick Thilan Thushara, the left-arm medium-pacer, or hand out a debut to Dammika Prasad, whose pace has been a talking point ever since he was added to the squad after the first Test. Prasad took four wickets in the practice match against India.

Dinesh Karthik had done little behind the stumps in the first two Tests and even lesser in front of the stumps, so in all probability he may be axed in favour of Parthiv Patel, who last played a Test in October 2004. The rest of the line-up picks themselves.

Sehwag and Mendis have been the key performers for their teams respectively and the one who comes out on top here will decide whose team rules the sub-continent in the longer version of the game atleast.

Tags: colombo, Dammika Prasad, dinesh karthik, Idea Cup 2008, India, kumble, mendis, michael vandort, nuwan kulasekara, P Saravanamuttu Stadium, parthiv patel, sri lanka, thilan thushara, virender sehwag