Kamindu Mendis is looked at as a probable replacement for Dhananjaya de Silva 

• Second Test against Australia commences at Galle today

Having played poorly to lose the first Test of a two-Test series for the Warne-Muralitharan trophy inside three days, Sri Lanka now find themselves handicapped and, in a situation where they are unable to name eleven players for the second Test against Australia starting at the Galle International Cricket Stadium due to a number of them being tested COVID-19 positive.

“If you take the COVID situation there are several affected players and it is very difficult to decide on the combination. We have selected 13 players but before we select the final 11, we have another antigen test to undergo. From that we have to find whether there are any more positive cases, after that only we can announce our playing 11 tomorrow,” said Sri Lanka’s beleaguered captain Dimuth Karunaratne in a virtual pre-Test media conference yesterday.

“If you cannot finalise a proper 11 it’s not easy as a captain. We have to go through the medical protocol and hope that there are no further cases.”

Sri Lanka’s selected 13 are: Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Oshada Fernando, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Niroshan Dickwella, Ramesh Mendis, Prabath Jayasuriya, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Kasun Rajitha, Vishwa Fernando and Lakshan Sandaken.     

“All the spinners in the 13-man squad are available and if they are cleared, we can use Prabath as the main left-arm spinner. We are also thinking of playing Maheesh because we don’t have Dhananjaya de Silva as a second off-spinner. Australia has plenty of left-handers in their top order. We have not thought about the third spinner yet. We have to wait and see the antigen test and then we will take a decision whether to play an all-rounder, Dunith or Sandakan,” said Karunaratne.

Theekshana with his different varieties of spin troubled all the Australian batsmen during the white ball series, but he is woefully short of first-class experience having played only three matches, the last of which was in 2018.

“The format is different. You cannot say that if he troubles batsmen in ODIs that he can do the same in a Test because Australia has also prepared well against him,” said Karunaratne. “You never know how he will use these conditions. It’s a bit tough for him because he has not played in the longer format for a long time. He is practicing hard in the nets and hopefully if he plays, I hope he will perform and do what he did in the ODIs by keeping it simple.”

Theekshana, Wellalage, Sandakan and Jayasuriya were drafted into the squad due to Praveen Jayawickrama, Dhananjaya de Silva, Jeffrey Vandersay and Asitha Fernando being tested COVID-19 positive. Theekshana, Wellalage and Jayasuriya are all uncapped in Tests although they have figured in white ball cricket.

Kaunaratne also spoke of another uncapped player Kamindu Mendis of making it to the final 11 to fill the vacant spot of Dhananjaya de Silva.

“We have two batsmen in the squad for that position, Oshada Fernando and Kamindu Mendis. We are looking at Kamindu because he was the highest run scorer in the NSL (National Super League) and he has captained the Sri Lanka ‘A’ team. He is a middle-order batsman who can also bowl. I look at him as a cricketer with a big future. He has got an opportunity to get selected into the final 11. In my opinion he is most suited to play the role of Dhananjaya de Silva,” said Karunaratne.  “Likewise, there is Oshada who has scored in the Bangladesh series. We have to see the spin combination and then decide on whether we need a batting all-rounder or a proper batsman. One of the two will play.”

More than placing the blame on the spinners it was Sri Lanka batsmen’s failure to put sufficient runs on the board after winning the toss and taking first lease of the wicket that led to their heavy defeat by ten wickets in the first Test.

“I don’t like to place the blame on the spinners because we won the toss and batted first and we managed to get only 212. Australia showed us how well they have come prepared to play in this type of conditions by scoring 321. That alone showed that we didn’t play well enough to give our spinners a chance,” admitted Karunaratne. “Although they didn’t take wickets, we could have built more pressure with the spinners. Australia has two good spinners and we must find a way to play them successfully. We are working on it meticulously.”

“The coach has told us to concentrate on improving our sweep shot but that is only one option. When you are handling spin there are other options also if you are a good player. Each player has his own game plan and I’ve told them to play accordingly, not to play under pressure. It’s better to play with what we know and try to improve our game. We all know where we went wrong and we must try and rectify it.”

“If you compare the spinners from both sides, they have a world class spinner (Nathan Lyon) the main threat is from him. We have to first put up a big total in the first innings, from there onwards only the bowlers can build pressure. If you look at our history, we have not won on tracks that have taken turn from the first ball but provided a cushion for the spinners and then won matches.”

Australia are looking at resting their fast bowling spearhead Mitchell Starc and recalling batting all-rounder Glenn Maxwell who can also bowl off-spin for his first Test in five years, which would leave captain Pat Cummins as the solitary frontline quick. Starc was Australia’s leading wicket-taker in the last series played in Sri Lanka in 2016 with 24 wickets, but in the first Test of the current series bowled only 11 overs in the entire match on a spin friendly Galle pitch.

Sri Lanka cannot win the Warne-Muralitharan trophy for which the series is played for regardless of the result in the second Test as Australia, the current holders lead 1-0 and the most Sri Lanka can do is draw the series.

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