Lanka susceptible to spin at Pallekele

England’s Jack Leach (left) and India’s Ravichandran Ashwin have been instrumental in inflicting back to back Test defeats on Sri Lanka at Pallekele

• Lost back-to-back Tests to India and England

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Pallekele International Cricket Stadium where Sri Lanka are due to play the two Tests against Bangladesh beginning 21 April is not the hosts favoured venue having lost back-to-back Tests against India and England, and overall won only one Test out of the seven played there (three losses).

The fact that Sri Lanka has lost their last two Tests played at this venue to visiting spinners has not gone unnoticed by the Bangladeshi camp who are planning to unleash their two main spinners, Taijul Islam and Mehedi Hasan Miraz, against the Lankan batsmen in the absence of their main spinner Shakib Al Hasan who is away in India playing in the IPL.

In 2018, the likes of England spinners Jack Leach, Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid accounted for 18 of the 20 Lankan wickets, as the home team were beaten by 57 runs, and in 2017 it was Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav with 11 wickets between them who spun India to a thumping innings and 171-run win.  

“Although Bangladesh are yet to play a Test match in Pallekele, the likes of Taijul and Miraz will definitely look to cash in on their experience in the upcoming Tests, both of which will be at the same venue. Selectors are yet to announce the final squad for the series but the Tigers, who lack experience in the pace bowling department, will surely be looking for spinners to take the leading role,” reports the Bangladesh newspaper the Daily Star.

“Among a current lot of cricketers, Miraz has been the most successful bowler for the Tigers in Sri Lanka, picking up ten wickets in two Tests. The off-spinner is also the second-highest wicket-taker for Bangladesh in the longest format of the game in the past year, with ten wickets for the Tigers, behind Taijul Islam’s 12 wickets. Taijul will play a key role as the only specialist left-arm spinner in the side and the 29-year-old has developed into a world-class spinner over the past few years. However, one of the major concerns for the Bangladeshi spinners has been an inability to perform away from home, and a lack of experience has been highlighted as one of the biggest reasons. It will be important for Bangladeshi spinners to hit the right areas often to get the most purchase out of the pitch and it is the spinners who will play a huge role if the Tigers want to pick 20 wickets in a Test match in the island nation this time around,” adds the publication.

However for the upcoming Test series it seems like Sri Lanka are going change their strategy from spin to pace, and this is reflected in the selection of their 18-member squad, which comprises five fast bowlers and one fast bowling all-rounder in comparison to three spinners, of which only one is likely to play. Sri Lanka are also without their main spinner left-armer Lasith Embuldeniya, who has been sidelined by injury. A surprise omission from the squad is Lakshan Sandakan, who bowls left-arm wrist spin and is the most successful bowler at this venue after Rangana Herath, with 12 wickets (avg. 19.91) and a strike rate of 41.

Bangladesh in contrast has four spinners in their line-up: Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam and off-spinners Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Nayeem Hasan and Shuvagata Hom.

Bangladesh’s cricket captain Mominul Haque (right) plays a shot during the second day Intra-Squad warm-up match ahead of their first cricket test match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, at the Marians Cricket Club Ground in Katunayake yesterday – Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP

Bangladesh’s Tamim Iqbal (centre) and his teammate Saif Hassan (left) run between the wickets during the Intra-Squad warm-up match ahead of their first cricket test match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, at the Marians Cricket Club Ground in Katunayake on Saturday – Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP