Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal has found some similarities between Islanders' pitches and the Manuka Oval and hopes to suit the tourists' game, as they are gearing up to level the two-match Test series on Friday (1st February) against Australia.
The Islanders were defeated by an innings and 40 runs in the first Test in Brisbane last week and now they are set to face Australia in the second and final Test in Canberra, which has not much grass on the wicket and Chandimal feels it’s similar to Sri Lankan pitches and that could be really helpful for them.
The scenic Canberra ground, which is known to be a high-scoring ground having hosted nine ODIs in the past, is yet to host a Test match and Sri Lanka skipper is hoping for a little assistance for the tourists, as the lack of bounce, which offers assistance to slow bowlers is good news for the subcontinent side.
Chandimal told reporters on Thursday, “There’s not much grass on the wicket. We practiced on the side nets and there was not much bounce. It’s really low and coming really fast at you. It’s similar to Sri Lankan pitches and definitely, there will be turn after the second day’s play.”
The 29-year-old continued, “First game was different, played with a pink ball. When you come to Canberra, it’s less bounce than the Gabba and similar to our conditions. But at the same time as a batting unit we need to step up and if we can put a good total on the board, we can put pressure on them. That’s what we want to do as a team.”
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s main concern is the injuries, as they have lost all-rounder Angelo Mathews and paceman Nuwan Pradeep due to injuries even before the first Test and then fast bowlers Lahiru Kumara and Dushmantha Chameera also ruled out of second Test, but Captain insisted that they have finalized their playing XI for the Canberra Test.
Chandimal signed off by saying, “We know our XI. Injuries are our main concern... It’s tough, we couldn’t get the best XI because of the injuries but we have finalized our playing XI. It’s always tough as players with so many things happening but we don’t want to be concerned with all that. We want to control what we can control. We know what we have to do as a team, we all know how tough it is playing against Australia. I’m sure boys will compete against Australian in this game and we hope to finish well.”
(With Reuters Inputs)
