Wicket is not easy to bat on, says Karunaratne
abu dhabi — The Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium pitch could very well play villain in the first Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. A cover of grass on the pitch has deceived the ‘home team’, who selected three pacers in the XI.
However, the pitch stayed low and offered less assistance to Pakistani fast bowlers. The spotlight falls on spinners and Sri Lanka have packed three in their side. And the coming days are going to be a test of character for players from both the teams.
“The wicket is not easy to bat. It’s getting slower and slower. It’s not easy to get runs quickly. We have to wait for the loose ones. It’s hotter and when bowlers bowl for longer periods, we will get loose balls.
“We just need to bat for longer periods. We need to put a big total and then we can think about winning. It doesn’t matter if we take time but we can capitalise on later,” Dimiuth Karunaratne said. Karunaratne made 93 from 205 balls with only 20 runs coming by way of boundaries.
Asked about a satisfactory firstinnings total, he said: “We are looking at 350-400 runs but we have to work hard for that. It is not easy. Dinesh Chandimal and Niroshan Dickwella are playing really well. I don’t think Dickwella will struggle on the wicket and will play his natural game. We can put 300-350 runs and later when it’s turning, we have Dilruwan Perera, Rangana Herath and can put them (Pakistan) under pressure.”
Sri Lanka have three frontline spinners and part-timers to make life difficult for Pakistan.
Talking about Pakistan’s lone spinner Yasir Shah, he said: “We are not thinking about one person. We have to play positively. That is what I did last series. I told coach as well that I am attacking him. That is my strength. If I get runs against their main bowler then we have good chance to put them under pressure.”
Meanwhile, Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur was confident about team selection and said one spinner for the match was the right call.
“I was disappointed that they took a little bit more grass from the wicket than I wanted to. No regrets of not going in with another spinner. I think we have gone in with what we think our best attack is. The ball got pretty soft and it didn’t reverse for us. The two areas where I think we lacked a bit was probably the first six overs today and then the last eight of the day.
Despite three pacers in the playing XI, the South African said spinner Yasir holds the key now. Yasir bowled 34 of the 90 overs on the day.
“Yasir’s role in the first innings is just to hold for us. Today he became that striker because there was enough. We were good and okay through those periods of time. If we go bang-bang tomorrow (Friday) morning then we can restrict them under 300, which is going to be good for us,” he added.