Colombo Test Preview
By on August 4, 2008
173 reads
The deciding Test Match of India's tour of Sri Lanka will be played at the P Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo from August 8. The series is evenly poised and has proceeded along the lines of the previous series between these two sides in Sri Lanka. In that series India lost the first test in Colombo, before winning the second at Kandy, only to lose the decider by an innings in Colombo. This time around, the deciding Test match will be held not at the Premadasa Stadium, but at the older P Sara ground. Tendulkar and Kumble have both played at this ground in 1993. This ground hosted Sri Lanka's inaugural Test Match in 1982. Test Cricket returned to this ground in 2002, when Australia played Pakistan.
Since 2002, the P Saravanmuttu ground has hosted a number of notable Test Matches. The Australia - Pakistan Test match was played on a true wicket, and the rampaging Australians predictably won the first innings against a young, inexperienced Pakistan side, taking a first innings lead of 188. The Australians were working their way towards an insurmountable lead, when Shoaib Akhtar ran through them like a hot knife through butter with a blindingly fast spell of bowling. Left with 316 for a win, Pakistan fell 42 runs short, being all out for 274 after having been 4/230 at one stage. Shane Warne took 11 wickets in the match.
Stephen Fleming made 274 at this ground when New Zealand toured last. South Africa have lost a Test match here despite setting Sri Lanka 350 to win in the 4th innings. Mahela Jayawardene made 123 and Sri Lanka sneaked home by one wicket.
The three significant Test matches at this ground suggest that the P Sara wicket is different from the normal Sri Lankan wickets - it lasts longer, and 4th innings batting is realistically possible. India will have to consider this history, as well as current pitch conditions as they find them in making their selection for this game. With Harbhajan Singh taking 10 wickets at Galle, they will be loathe to play 3 pace bowlers and the lone spinner. They could however consider making a bold move and selecting five specialist bowlers. It will leave them thin in the batting department, but given the form of the middle order, leaving Sourav Ganguly out is hardly likely to matter. If the wicket offers some seam movement, Munaf Patel would be a fine addition to the Indian pace attack.
The trickiest decision India face, is that of the wicketkeeping position. Dinesh Karthik has had a rough series so far and has made a number of catching and stumping errors. His collection has been scratchy, and he looks less than sure behind the stumps. If Dhoni were available, there would be little doubt as to what India might do. Parthiv Patel's wicketkeeping remains untested. He's also shown himself to be an irritating customer as far as the umpires are concerned in the past. All this apart though, the most important factor is the batting. Dinesh Karthik's only (and fatal) problem with the bat has been his inability to pick Ajantha Mendis. There is no guarantee that Patel will pick Mendis. If he's unable to do so, he's liable to being even more of a walking wicket than Dinesh Karthik. The Indians will have to decide who has the better chance of scoring runs - Dinesh Karthik's who has struggled, but who has atleast had a look at Mendis and Murali for four innings now, or Patel, who will come in cold to face the most potent spin bowling combination in recent memory. I suspect that the Indians will stick with Dinesh Karthik.
For the Sri Lankans, the search for an opening pair to replace Jayasurya and Atapattu continues. They will also look for a more threatening new ball bowler to partner the steady Vaas. If the P Sara wicket is as true as it has been in the past, Mendis will be tested as well. If he can't get his variations to go off the straight on the harder, truer wickets, he will has to rely on beating the batsmen in the air rather than simply off the pitch. It will also give us a true measure of how much he really turns the ball.
That the deciding Test is going to be played at P Saravanamuttu is ultimately in India's favor, especially if the wicket is similar to the ones used in recent Test Matches at the ground. I suspect it will be pace and not spin which will be India's trump card in the decider.
Since 2002, the P Saravanmuttu ground has hosted a number of notable Test Matches. The Australia - Pakistan Test match was played on a true wicket, and the rampaging Australians predictably won the first innings against a young, inexperienced Pakistan side, taking a first innings lead of 188. The Australians were working their way towards an insurmountable lead, when Shoaib Akhtar ran through them like a hot knife through butter with a blindingly fast spell of bowling. Left with 316 for a win, Pakistan fell 42 runs short, being all out for 274 after having been 4/230 at one stage. Shane Warne took 11 wickets in the match.
Stephen Fleming made 274 at this ground when New Zealand toured last. South Africa have lost a Test match here despite setting Sri Lanka 350 to win in the 4th innings. Mahela Jayawardene made 123 and Sri Lanka sneaked home by one wicket.
The three significant Test matches at this ground suggest that the P Sara wicket is different from the normal Sri Lankan wickets - it lasts longer, and 4th innings batting is realistically possible. India will have to consider this history, as well as current pitch conditions as they find them in making their selection for this game. With Harbhajan Singh taking 10 wickets at Galle, they will be loathe to play 3 pace bowlers and the lone spinner. They could however consider making a bold move and selecting five specialist bowlers. It will leave them thin in the batting department, but given the form of the middle order, leaving Sourav Ganguly out is hardly likely to matter. If the wicket offers some seam movement, Munaf Patel would be a fine addition to the Indian pace attack.
The trickiest decision India face, is that of the wicketkeeping position. Dinesh Karthik has had a rough series so far and has made a number of catching and stumping errors. His collection has been scratchy, and he looks less than sure behind the stumps. If Dhoni were available, there would be little doubt as to what India might do. Parthiv Patel's wicketkeeping remains untested. He's also shown himself to be an irritating customer as far as the umpires are concerned in the past. All this apart though, the most important factor is the batting. Dinesh Karthik's only (and fatal) problem with the bat has been his inability to pick Ajantha Mendis. There is no guarantee that Patel will pick Mendis. If he's unable to do so, he's liable to being even more of a walking wicket than Dinesh Karthik. The Indians will have to decide who has the better chance of scoring runs - Dinesh Karthik's who has struggled, but who has atleast had a look at Mendis and Murali for four innings now, or Patel, who will come in cold to face the most potent spin bowling combination in recent memory. I suspect that the Indians will stick with Dinesh Karthik.
For the Sri Lankans, the search for an opening pair to replace Jayasurya and Atapattu continues. They will also look for a more threatening new ball bowler to partner the steady Vaas. If the P Sara wicket is as true as it has been in the past, Mendis will be tested as well. If he can't get his variations to go off the straight on the harder, truer wickets, he will has to rely on beating the batsmen in the air rather than simply off the pitch. It will also give us a true measure of how much he really turns the ball.
That the deciding Test is going to be played at P Saravanamuttu is ultimately in India's favor, especially if the wicket is similar to the ones used in recent Test Matches at the ground. I suspect it will be pace and not spin which will be India's trump card in the decider.
Flag
Props (0)
This article is
What is the duplicate article?
Why is this article offensive?
Where is this article plagiarized from?
Why is this article poorly edited?
Sri Lanka Cricket: Like this team?
0 Comments
Loading comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete