Want to sneak a win off India, says SL coach
KOLKATA/COLOMBO: The Dinesh Chandimal-led Sri Lanka team arrived in Kolkata for their sixweek tour of India that starts with the first of the three-test series, beginning here on November 16. Sri Lanka will play three Tests, three ODIS and three T20IS.
The 15-member squad will hit the nets from Thursday, ahead of their two-day practice game against a third-string Board President’s XI in Kolkata, starting on Saturday. The last time Sri Lanka played Test matches in India was seven years back in 2009, a threematch series that they lost 0-2. Earlier this year, India beat Sri Lanka 3-0 in Tests followed by a sweep in five ODIS and one T20I.
Sri Lanka had a better show against Pakistan, winning the away Test series in UAE 2-0. But they were routed 5-0 in the ODI series that followed.
Sri Lanka coach Nic Pothas made no bones about the fact that this India tour will be the toughest undertaken by his team. “You know they in my opinion are the best team in the world. And certainly in their conditions makes it even tougher. So would be a great challenge for our guys, something that we’re prepared for, but it’s going to be a tough, tough series to go,” Pothas said ahead of team’s departure.
In the context of their last performance against India, Pothas said it was important his team remains competitive. “You know when we would take great pride in being competitive and I think you know certainly for the Test matches and for the T20s in Pakistan, we were competitive. So that’s going to be the main goal --to push India as hard as possible. We try and sneak a win off them that would be great,” he said.
All-rounder Angelo Mathews hopes to take forward the confidence of winning Tests against Pakistan to India. “I think the boys did really well against Pakistan. That confidence we are hoping to carry forward in the Indian series. I know it’s going to be different outfit, different wicket, but that confidence we can carry forward to the Indian series and I’m sure the boys are all geared up.
“If we play to our potential, we can. Yeah the recent history, the recent past Test series and also the ODI series which was played in Sri Lanka wasn’t that great for us but I think you know we can look forward to it because after that we picked ourselves and we played well to beat Pakistan.”