By Dhammika Ratnaweera
Chairman of national selection committee Asantha de Mel said the upcoming Test series is going to be a real test for the Sri Lankan cricketers and that it is not an experimental series as the series in the start for our campaign for the ICC Test Championships.
“We will try to get the best XI on the board for the first game. We wanted to try two or three players at the practice three-day game to pick the final XI but unfortunately, rain was a spoiler.” explained de Mel, who is still undecided about the final composition for the series.
He further said that his selection committee had to pick a balanced side in all departments of the game with a majority number of batters with spin bowling capabilities. “Unfortunately, Dilruwan Perera is not fully fit for the first test and that’s an opportunity for a youngster,” said De Mel.
He said that the team will rely much on skipper Dimuth Karunarathna and experienced Lahiru Thirimanne to make a good start for the innings as it would ease off pressure for the middle order to score freely for a formidable score. “We expect that the pitch would be a good and a fair one for both teams. We hope to have a good match and a series” said De Mel adding that they cannot take the Kiwis lightly as they are a good all-round side and had come up very strongly in the recent past.
De Mel is hopeful that the Sri Lankan players would come up good with confidence as they are a bunch of talented cricketers. “They should be in fine form and high spirits in test cricket as they beat South Africans in their own den in the last test series” added de Mel.
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