Indo-Lanka first Test starts today

Spinners hold the key on dry Chennai pitch

CHENNAI, Thursday

Ask any captain to name his team a day before the Test match and you can doubly be sure you will not get a positive reaction. The answers more or less will be in the negative with phrases like: "It all depends on the state of the pitch and conditions or, we will decide on the morning of the match or, we have not finalized our eleven yet, so on and so forth.

Asking a captain to name his team is such a waste of time that it is sometimes far better to delve on other aspects of the game.

With the pitch prepared for the first Test between Sri Lanka and India starting here at the Chiddambaram Stadium tomorrow being the same as that was geared up to host the abandoned third one-dayer between India and South Africa ten days ago, Sri Lanka skipper Marvan Atapattu played his cards close to his chest when queried about the composition of his team for the Test.

"This pitch will be a major factor in deciding our final eleven," said Atapattu. With the pitch being bone dry and hard with a lot of cracks appearing in it, the chances are that the spinners will rule the roost.

With that thought in mind Atapattu named a squad of 13 without all-rounder Farveez Maharoof and left-hand opener Upul Tharanga. This could mean that Sri Lanka had the option of going in with three spinners - Muralitharan, Bandara and Weerakoon or with two giving the other spot to a batsman who in all probability could be left-hander Jehan Mubarak, who flew in as a replacement for injured Chamara Kapugedera.

Of the two spinners who are likely to partner spin icon Muttiah Muralitharan, right-arm leg-spinner Malinga Bandara looks a better bet than uncapped left-armer Weerakoon.

Bandara bowled pretty well to capture two of the four wickets to fall during the Board President's XI innings at Bangalore and impressed coach Tom Moody who said his bowling was the only positive sign to come out of the practice game.

The exclusion of uncapped Tharanga from the squad means that Atapattu preferred to open the batting with Avishka Gunawardene who made the last of his four Test appearances over a period of six years against Australia at Kandy in 2003.

It is unfortunate that the 28-year-old Gunawardene's career had to run parallel with Sanath Jayasuriya. The few opportunities he has got at this level has been mostly when the master blaster had been injured. Tomorrow represents another such opportunity for Gunawardene and one hopes he will seize it with both hands.

If Sri Lanka is to post a competitive total against the powerful Indian batting line up they will need a good start from the openers to lay a solid foundation. The toss is going to be vital for the team winning it is certainly going to bat first and make the maximum use of the batting conditions before the pitch starts to break up.

Atapattu said that playing in India was a good test for his team who had been outclassed in the shorter version of the game by a margin of 1-6. But he expressed confidence that they had put behind the defeat and come tomorrow it would be a new game of cricket they will be playing.

India dubbed by the media here as 'Team India' or the 'Men in Blue' have also delayed finalizing their squad.

"The final 11 will be decided tomorrow morning depending on the condition. There is the factor of the weather to be considered. From my point of view it doesn't make sense to announce the eleven," said Dravid.

The question whether India would play former captain Sourav Ganguly has been left for tomorrow. With Virender Sehwag nursing a slightly strained left shoulder which prevented him from batting at the nets today, would further brighten Ganguly's chances of opening the innings.

"As a precautionary measure we did not let Sehwag bat today. We hope that nothing is serious," said Dravid.

The Indian captain said that they would try the same tactics that succeeded against Sri Lanka in the one-day series for the Test matches also. "We played good cricket and we didn't allow Sri Lanka to play good cricket. That's what we will have to do in the Test series," said Dravid.

"If we want to be successful we'll have to play really well. Just because we won the one-day series doesn't mean that we can come here and win the Test series. It is two different games. If we play to our potential I think we can do well."

Dravid said although Sanath Jayasuriya was absent from the side, India had to be very wary and be careful of some good youngsters Sri Lanka had brought with them for the Test series.

Dravid said that how India team plays Muralitharan was going to be an important part of the series just as how Sri Lanka will encounter the Indian attack with Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.

Of the 11 Tests Sri Lanka has played in India they have lost six (all by an innings) and drawn five. Overall, the record between the two countries stands at 8-3 in favour of India with 12 drawn from 23 Tests.

UMPIRES: Daryl Harper (Australia) and Mark Benson (England), TV umpire: K. Hariharan (India),

Match Referee:

Clive Lloyd (West Indies).

The teams:

SRI LANKA: Marvan Atapattu (captain), Avishka Gunawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Tilan Samaraweera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan, Malinga Bandara, Sajeewa Weerakoon, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Jehan Mubarak.

INDIA: Rahul Dravid (captain), Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Lakshman, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammed Kaif, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Ajith Agarkar, Irfan Pathan, Gautam Gambhir, Murali Kartik, Rudra Pratap Singh.