The two-match Test series between Sri Lanka and Australia will begin on June 29. It is anticipated that the Test team of the home side will give a tackling perfomance to the Aussies. Despite having some doubts about the current lineup, Sri Lankan captain Dimuth Karunaratne is confident in his team’s ability to compete against the WTC table toppers, Australia.
Sri Lanka’s squad for the test series will be led the by the classical skipper Dimuth Karunaratne, followed by Parthum Nissanka, and Oshada Fernando. Angelo Mathews, Kusal Mendis will be one of the experienced players in the team followed by Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis. Niroshan Dickwella and Dinesh Chandimal are the two wicket-keepers in the squad. The rest of the players are Ramesh Mendis, Chamika Karunaratne, Kasun Rajitha, Vishwa Fernando, Asitha Fernando, Dilshan Madushanka, Praveen Jayawickrama, Lasith Embuldeniya, and Jeffery Vandersay.
“I think against Bangladesh, they (fast bowlers) were match-winners and they know what they have to do and they did their job very well. I don’t think it would be a problem when we go overseas as I found a new fast bowling pair. The concern is about the spinners because our spinners mostly bowl in Sri Lanka and they haven’t played much overseas. When you are playing on a flat wicket like this (in Bangladesh) and there is nothing given for the spinners, they need to know how they have to bowl and how to squeeze the rate and that is one thing we have to build going forward,” he said.
Karunaratne’s worries are along the same lines as those of the Lanka bowlers, who did not perform well on Bangladeshi pitches that were designed to aid the batsmen. He claimed that there is still much work to be done before the new Sri Lankan spinning unit can be relied upon in all circumstances.
