Indian series swansong for senior seamer Suranga Lakmal
Come Friday, would mark the first of the last two matches for senior seamer Suranga Lakmal in national colours as his side lock horns against an insurmountable India, in a two-match test series getting underway in Mohali.
The former test skipper will bid farewell at the conclusion of the series as the best longest format bowler in the last decade for the team. Lakmal, turning 35 during the series, will go into the game with 168 scalps.
The farewell aside, the Mohali match would also be a red-letter day in Sri Lanka cricket’s history itself, as the islander’s would be playing in their 300th test outing.
Though Sri Lanka enjoyed a handsome and a hammering test series win in their last test series against the West India, India presents only a power-packed squad.
Niroshan Dickwella entering the side after a lapse of virtually a year means, he would be busy with batting as well as wicket-keeping duties. For the southpaw, this presents another window of opportunity to register a long overdue Test century. Early last year, twice over he came within touching distance, only to be dismissed in the nervous-nineties.
Tourists, sitting in the bottom half at seven in the ICC test rankings, face the threat of losing a consequential contest with their host, placed third. For the Indians, top-order batsman, and now all- format skipper Rohit Sharma, having succeeded his predecessor Virat Kohli, would be leading his side into his inaugural appearance as a Test skipper.
India, an unconquered neighbour for the tourists, would be coming into the contest packed with their full-strength squad. That also will feature, their star batter, Kohli, now finding hard to regain consistency.
Dimuth Karunaratne, however, has been in the runs posting 147, 83, 42 and 6. Even in the run up to the last series, he was sitting pretty in a purple patch of a form, having cracked a double ton, earning the man-of-the-series versus Bangladesh.