England Vs Sri Lanka, Investec Test Series - Team Sri Lanka Preview

While the IPL seems to be going on forever in India, England and Sri Lanka will lock horns in a three match Test series in England starting May 19th. The last time these two teams met, the Sri Lankans scripted one of the finest come-from-behind win with Angelo Mathews and Rangana Herath playing the lead protagonists.

This time around, the Lankans will not have the services of their two talismanic batsmen - Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, both of whom had played a huge role in Sri Lanka being able to topple the English in their own backyard in 2014. But the Sri Lankan team can never be counted out and they do have some exciting young talent that they can look forward to. Kusal Mendis is a young batsmen and he already looks to be one for the future to me. He is compact, can score freely when he decides to and is pleasing to watch. He has made good start to his career and continues to impress and is the leading contender to take the number three spot. Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews will have to carry the middle order on their shoulders and both of them are well equipped to do so. Chandimal, with his aggressive mindset, can put the bowling team off if he can get into his groove early while Mathews has been there and done that for the Lankans since the time he broke into the team he now leads.

The start that the Lankan openers provide will go a long way in determining how the rest of their batting fares against a strong English seam attack comprising Broad, Anderson and Finn. Dimuth Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva had a good series in 2014 and they will need to repeat those performances, if not better them for the Lankans to do well in this series. The key for them will be to blunt the new ball and tire Anderson and Broad as much as possible so that the middle order can breathe a little more freely.

I will prefer Dickwella at number 6 and Dasun Shanaka at 7 since both of them seem to be in good nick and can play counter attacking cricket if need be. They also provide the left-right combo lower down which might prove to be useful to put the bowling side under pressure in tense situations.

Sri Lanka has taken Lahiru Thirimanne with them and although he seems to be a fine young batsman, he has just been unable to step up as far as test matches are concerned. I hope that he is left out of the playing 11 and not given a free run while players who are in form are warming the bench. Milinda Siriwardena is another player who has had a tremendous start to his career in all forma but he seems to be woefully out of form and I would prefer Shanaka in place of him who played a few decent innings in the WT20 and made a cracking 100 against Leicestershire in the tour match. He can also be useful with his dibbly-dobbly medium pace in Headingly which is renowned for assistance under grey clouds.

The bowling attack of the Lankans might not be the most intimidating one on paper but it surely is reliant and capable of getting the job done with collective effort. Dhammika Prasad has been the stalwart and has carried the Lankan attack with pace, swing, guile and a smile on his face while Dushmantha Chameera has added that razor sharp edge which was missing from their pace bowling line up. With Eranga, Lakmal and Pradeep also in the squad the Sri Lankans have a good nucleus of fast bowlers to choose from. Rangana Herath is a master of his trade and there have been few spinners who have been as good as him with the limited repertoire that he seems to possess. He is a class act and can turn the match on his own. His clever variations of flight and nagging consistency have befuddled many a great batsmen and the young English batting line up might not be up to it if it comes down to facing him in the fourth innings on a track assisting him even slightly.

It will certainly not be easy for the Lankans especially with the retirements of middle order greats in Sangakkara and Mahela but it is a great opportunity for the youngsters to put their hands up and make a name for themselves and grow from boys to men during the course of this gruelling three match series against one of the best test teams going around.

My Sri Lankan XI for the First Test against England at Headingly, Leeds:

Dimuth Karunaratne

Kaushal Silva

Kusal Mendis

Dinesh Chandimal

Angelo Mathews

Niroshan Dickwella

Dasun Shanaka

Rangana Herath

Dhammika Prasad/ Suranga Lakmal

Dushmantha Chameera

Shaminda Eranga

The Fantastico 3 who made 2-1 Come-From-Behind Series Win against Sri Lanka Possible!!

India needed to win both the games in Ranchi and Vizag after their meltdown in Pune to the swinging ball on a green pitch. And win they did, in style, securing a come from behind 2-1 victory over the depleted Sri Lankan side in the three match T20I series. This series win was very important because it gives them the bragging rights ahead of the bigger and tougher multi nation events like the Asia Cup T20I's and the World T20 where they might again run into the Lankan side.

There were several architects who made this series win possible for India. Let us look at the Fantastico 3 who made the greatest impact on the Lankans with their skills.

R Ashwin

India did not have a big score to defend at Pune and the pitch was green, aiding the pace bowlers, but that did not stop Ashwin from spinning a web around the Lankan batsmen. He claimed 3-0-13-2 to scare the Lankan's and made sure that they did not stroll to a victory. At Ranchi, on a dry pitch which offered him assistance, Dhoni called on him to open the bowling. He responded in style picking up the dangerous Dilshan in his first over and returned later to claim Shanaka and Perera to return with astounding figures of 4-0-14-3.

But it was at Vizag that he showed his full repertoire after Dhoni decided to bowl first on a batting pitch. Ashwin claimed Dilshan and Dickwella in his first over while snaffling their captain, Chandimal in his second and Gunaratne in his third over to kill the Lankan innings. His figures of 4-1-8-4 were the best ever in T20I's by an Indian bowler. He had a Fantastico series and kept the Lankan batsmen on a tight leash, they failed to read and decipher his variations completely.

Ashwin is a bowler who is at the peak of his powers, able to land the ball in the right areas with flight and guile using the multitude of variations to fool the opposition batsmen. He bowled 11 overs in total taking 9 wickets at a strike rate of only 7 while giving away only 35 runs in the bargain. He was the most impact player for India who played the biggest part in the 2-1 victory.

Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan is probably the weakest link in this Indian batting line, who had a modest T20I record prior to this series but he was the highest run getter in this series and sealed his spot at the top of the order with his big hitting which helped India seize the initiative in both their victories. He blasted a 25 ball 51 at Ranchi to give them a rousing start while Rohit was struggling at the other end while making an unbeaten 46 in 46 balls while chasing the small total in the last T20I.

He made 103 runs at an average of 53 with a strike rate of 126 runs per hundred balls on pitches which were not easy to bat on this playing a very important role in India's series victory.

Ashish Nehra

He had made a dream comeback against Australia last month and had impressed with his swing and wicket taking ability with the new ball playing an important role in India's whitewash over the Australian team. But question marks remained if he would be able to bowl well on the flat Indian pitches and he responded in style by picking up 5 wickets in the three games.

He swung the new ball and provided India with an early breakthrough in every game thus pegging the Lankans back at the very start of their innings.

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

Indian Squad for Sri Lanka T20I's Announced, Virat Kohli Rested

Team India, flying high after their victorious campaign in the T20I's down under where they absolutely decimated and decapitated the Australian team, will host the current ICC WT20 champions Sri Lanka at home for three T20 matches. It was at the hands of a clinical Lankan team that India was defeated in the ICC WT20 2014 in Bangladesh.

The Indian team for the three match series was announced today and the biggest surprise was that the man going through a purple patch, Virat Kohli, was rested ahead of the Asia Cup T20I's and the ICC WT20. Unless he has a niggle and is injured I don't see much sense in this decision of resting him. Sometimes, when you rest a player in good form he losses that golden touch upon comeback. Virat was the leading run scorer in the recently concluded T20I series where he hit a half century in all the three matches tallying 199 runs while getting out only once.

On a positive note the injured Ajinkya Rahane is back and he will be looking to play a few good innings and cement his in the strong middle order. Manish Pandey, after scoring that wonderful maiden hundred in the last ODI to help India win, will also look for an opportunity to showcase his talent in the shortest format of the game.

Yuvraj, the man who struggled to last bat on ball on that black night in Bangladesh will especially be eager to make amends and reclaim his slot in the Indian middle order. Most of the blame for India's loss was put on the head of Yuvraj and rightly so as he had plodded and prodded to a 21 ball 11. Yuvraj redeemed himself partially when he made an impact on the 3rd T20I at Sydney by hitting a four and a six off the first two balls and getting India within touching distance of a win before Raina sealed it with a boundary off the last ball.

On the bowling front of will be interesting to now if Harbhajan gets a chance ahead of Ashwin. Pawan Negi, a left arm spinner has also been picked but it remains to be seen if he can get a game in place of the inform Jadeja. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, the swing bowler, also returns to the squad after missing out on the Australia series with a fractured thumb.

Revenge is a very unpleasant word and I don't believe in it, but India will be eager to face Sri Lanka again in the same format. There will be that little extra motivation for the team to go all out for a win. They must have been looking forward to this tie for quite some time so that some haunting ghosts from the past can be laid to rest.

India's Fantastico T20 squad for Sri Lanka T20I series

MS Dhoni (capt), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Pawan Negi.

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.