Sri Lanka's ugly ducklings turn into swans but let's not call them great yet | Dileep Premachandran

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Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan and New Zealand by identical 2-0 margins at home to climb to the number two spot in the official rankings with a rating of 120 behind number one team South Africa's 122. More... Victorious Sri Lanka turn focus on India COLOMBO, SRI LANKA Aug 31 2009 10:09 Having toyed with Pakistan and New Zealand, Kumar Sangakkara's Sri Lanka are eyeing India as their next scalp as the battle heats up to be the world's top Test team. Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan and New Zealand by identical 2-0 margins at home to climb to the number two spot in the official rankings with a rating of 120 behind number one team South Africa's 122. With India just one rating point behind Sri Lanka on 119 and Ashes losers Australia in fourth place with 116, the scramble at the top could see a new number one by the end of the year. Sri Lanka need to win their three-Test series in India in November-December to overtake South Africa, while a 2-0 win for Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men will push India to the top. Sri Lanka have never won a Test match in India, let alone a series, in seven previous visits across the Palk Straits, with eight losses and six draws since their first Test there in Chennai in 1982. It's a record Sangakkara, who has won four of his five Tests as captain since taking over from Mahela Jayawardene earlier this year, is determined to set straight. "The Indian tour will test everyone, mentally, physically and skill wise," he told reporters. "But if we do our homework right, be confident, prepare as best as we can and go out there looking to win, and if our attitude is positive, we will do well." When they last played a series in India in December, 2005, Sri Lanka lost the second Test in New Delhi by 188 runs and the third in Ahmedabad by 259 runs after the first game in Chennai was washed out.

[zubinpepsi]

Sri Lanka have never won a Test match in India, let alone a series, in seven previous visits across the Palk Straits, with eight losses and six draws since their first Test there in Chennai in 1982.

:hysterical::hysterical: the home track bullies and minnow bashers cudnt even manage a test win.. nice going.. and now they r no.2 jus by staying home and beating all the minnows like pak,NZ and Bangles.. :(( so if we win 2-0, we r going to b no.1 :woot: i hope defensive dhoni doesnt get contented with jus 1-0 and settles for a lame draw in the other matches..

[Bradman99]

I think Sri Lanka will be brought back down to earth by India.

[Guest Gunner]

"Victorious Sri Lanka turn focus on India" Meh.

[DomainK]

They better forget the past victories when they focus on India.

[Block hole]

It will gonna be another forgettable tour for the LANKAN's. :shades_smile:

[gs]

Hope Viru and Zak are back in the team by then.

[Ram]

I think it will be our most competitive test series in a long time. Our previous series against them in Lanka was quite a close affair. Even though we were beaten 1-2, it was mostly due to most of our batsman being completely bamboozled by the Mendis mystique AND partly due to Dhoni’s decision to opt out of the series to take rest (which was completely justified btw). This time, we are playing at home, Dhoni will be there and our batsman would be able to handle their spinners in a much better manner. Most of our players have had plenty of time to rest and recuperate, so fatigue shouldn’t really be a factor, like it was during T20 World cup. Even though they have an upper hand in the spin department, our pitches have gotten painfully slow over the last years, especially around the winter season. That should nullify much of the advantage they have in that department. However, their spin bowling prowess means we cant just prepare a dusty turner like we did in the test series against South Africa in 2008 and get away with it as easily. Their fast bowlers are by no means pushovers, but none of them, apart from maybe Kulasekhara, are renowned exponents of reverse-swing. If Zak is back by then, that should give us the advantage in the pace bowling department. There is little to choose in the batting department of the two teams. Both teams have a great mix of established stalwarts and rising stars. It’ll be extremely interesting to see which side comes out on tops. Given all this, its treacherous to give a verdict on the result of the test series, but if I had to make a prediction, I’ll go in for a 1-0 Indian win or a 1-1 draw.

[vvvslaxman]

I do not think we should take them lightly. We are not superpowers yet. We have our own shortcomings. India's strength is batting. SL's strength is bowling. It is a straight shootout between them. It will be too close to call.

[Dinx - the Jinx]

Lets bring it on... The last series against the Lankans, I had to endure 4 days of continuous rains, sitting at Chidambaram stadium... Anyone knows about the venues?

[ShermanAve]

:hysterical::hysterical: the home track bullies and minnow bashers cudnt even manage a test win.. nice going.. and now they r no.2 jus by staying home and beating all the minnows like pak,NZ and Bangles.. :(( so if we win 2-0, we r going to b no.1 :woot: i hope defensive dhoni doesnt get contented with jus 1-0 and settles for a lame draw in the other matches..

SL also thrashed India at home.Only Pakistan & Aus have been successful in beating SL in SL in last decade.:winky:

[Guest Gunner]

SL also thrashed India at home.Only Pakistan & Aus have been successful in beating SL in SL in last decade.:winky:

Wow amazing, can you also tell us a little bit about Pakistan's record in Australia?:winky:

[vvvslaxman]

SL also thrashed India at home.Only Pakistan & Aus have been successful in beating SL in SL in last decade.:winky:

SL has never won a single test let alone a series in India. But they have won multiple series in Pakistan.

[vvvslaxman]

Dilshan and Samaraweera are in prime form. They do very well in subcontinent conditions. We should not under-estimate them.

[Dinx - the Jinx]

^ are you frequenting muguran idli kadai? which one? besant ngr or t nagar? i thought u must be in hyd or something man..

[vvvslaxman]

^ are you frequenting muguran idli kadai? which one? besant ngr or t nagar? i thought u must be in hyd or something man..

I have been to chennai just once in the last 8 years. Last year i went. I went to one murugan idli kadai in T nagar . We had to wait for a while. :winky:

[ShermanAve]

SL has never won a single test let alone a series in India. But they have won multiple series in Pakistan.

We are talking about performances in SL here, but I agree SL & Pak have done better away than home against each other which is very strange.

[cowboysfan]

2-0 looks awfully unlikely to me.their batsmen seems to be in prime form and we seem to be missing our star performers in zak and viru.does anybody know the venues for the tests?

[saneindian]

This test series will establish Yuvraj Singh as a premier test batsman. Murali , Herath and Mendis are gonna wonder what hit them. BTW last time in 2005 when we played Lanka, they were no 2 in ODIs and no 3 in tests. After the series they were no 6 in ODIs and no 5 in tests :) Kulasekara and Sanga world no 1 in tests and ODIs will be given the apt treatment. Viru and Zak back and the bana reverse swing...yummmyyyy..bring it on!!!

[Lord]

I think it will be our most competitive test series in a long time. Our previous series against them in Lanka was quite a close affair. Even though we were beaten 1-2, it was mostly due to most of our batsman being completely bamboozled by the Mendis mystique AND partly due to Dhoni’s decision to opt out of the series to take rest (which was completely justified btw). This time, we are playing at home, Dhoni will be there and our batsman would be able to handle their spinners in a much better manner. Most of our players have had plenty of time to rest and recuperate, so fatigue shouldn’t really be a factor, like it was during T20 World cup. Even though they have an upper hand in the spin department, our pitches have gotten painfully slow over the last years, especially around the winter season. That should nullify much of the advantage they have in that department. However, their spin bowling prowess means we cant just prepare a dusty turner like we did in the test series against South Africa in 2008 and get away with it as easily. Their fast bowlers are by no means pushovers, but none of them, apart from maybe Kulasekhara, are renowned exponents of reverse-swing. If Zak is back by then, that should give us the advantage in the pace bowling department. There is little to choose in the batting department of the two teams. Both teams have a great mix of established stalwarts and rising stars. It’ll be extremely interesting to see which side comes out on tops. Given all this, its treacherous to give a verdict on the result of the test series, but if I had to make a prediction, I’ll go in for a 1-0 Indian win or a 1-1 draw.

Well said,but dont forget the referral system.Mendis n Murali r likely to hit the pads more often than Bhajji n Mishra,so that gives the advantage to Lankans i think it will be a very tight series specially if Zak is there.Veeru will be crucial too n btw,i dont think Dhoni opting out of test series was justified,but lets not start that again:--D