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| Tuesday, 19 October 2004 |
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Confident Lanka take on Pakistan in first test Chris Dhambarage reporting from Pakistan FAISALABAD, Pakistan, Monday. Sri Lanka will be hoping to draw inspiration from their recent success in the Paktel GSM Cup triangular series as they prepare themselves to take on Pakistan in a two test series starting at the Iqbal Stadium here on Wednesday. Skipper Marvan Atapattu feels that his side will have a psychological advantage going into the test series after his team defeated Pakistan by a massive 119 runs in the triangular final played under lights at the Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore. The manner in which they turned things around their favour was quite outstanding specially having gone down twice to Pakistan during the qualifying round stage. Sri Lanka's success in the triangular series have also lifted them into the second place in the ICC one day international standings having collected a total of 119 points. They are three points ahead of New Zealand but are well behind the current leaders and the reigning World champions Australia. Sri Lanka's crushing tri-series final victory over Pakistan was certainly inspired by their World Cup victory on the same ground in 1996. This latest triumph refreshes the 1996 win because that win was the biggest victory Sri Lanka have achieved in cricket. Sri Lanka beat Australia by seven wickets to lift their maiden World Cup title at the same ground in 1996. One of the two survivors of that famous win, Sanath Jayasuriya, spearheaded that win against the previously in-form home side, claiming five wickets for 17 runs off his eight overs. The other player who featured in the 1996 win was pace bowler Chaminda Vaas. Sri Lanka also won the Asian Test championship under Jayasuriya as captain, beating Pakistan in the final at this same ground in 2002. Even then Sri Lanka's victory in the final had a great amount of significance because they were under tremendous pressure following a major setback in the recent ICC Champions trophy tournament held in England. Atapattu and his team have proved that they could always bounce back as they displayed a great amount of determination and application to complete a fantastic series. Sri Lanka have certainly enjoyed a fare amount of success in one day internationals during the last 18 months. They made a five nil clean sweep against South Africa at home, won the Asia Cup also in Colombo and now they have just completed a memorable triumph away from home. Although the test matches will be played under completely different conditions the Lankans are quite aware that they need to build up their confidence to cope up with the challenge. Another satisfying factor in the Sri Lankan camp is that Mahela Jayawardena is just beginning to find his touch as he did prove in the triangular series final a couple of days ago. Jayawardena's performance was quite encouraging because he has not been in great form in recent past and will be looking forward to put an end to a series of low scores in test matches. With Thilan Samaraweera joining the test team the pair could form a solid middle order combination which something the Lankans have not been able to succeed. With Sri Lanka battling for honours in the ICC test championship it is unlikely that they would experiment with some of the new players who have arrived here specially for the test series. Samaraweera of course will automatically fit into the test team simply because of his fantastic average in this type of cricket and for his solid defence and dogged batting. The removal of Tillekeratne Dilshan was of the feeling that players like Ian Daniel, Thilina Kandamby or Jehan Mubarak would be given a place in the final eleven for some exposure. However in the triangular series the Sri Lankan team management decided to stick with the best possible eleven even while playing against a weak opposition like Zimbabwe. This would probably apply for the test matches as well because Sri Lanka are already hampered with the absence of ace off spinner Muttiah Muralitharn who is still recovering from a shoulder injury. The Lankans of course got away with the South Africans at home without Muralitharn winning the test series one nil. But this time they are up against a more organised side and will be playing under extremely difficult conditions. Atapattu and his team of course will not mind playing under the hot and humid conditions in contrast to the freezing cold weather conditions which they experienced in England last month. They seem to be in the right frame of mind and each player has the task of playing his role effectively and successfully which at the end will help the team come on top of any opposition. |
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