After leading the team to the historic series win against Pakistan in the United Arabia Emirates, Sri Lanka skipper Dinesh Chandimal is eyeing the elusive Test win in India when his side takes on the world number one team in the three-Test series, starting November 16.
Sri Lanka had gone to UAE after suffering a humiliating 3-0 whitewash against India at home.
However, they exceeded all the expectations and won both the Tests against Sarfraz Ahmed & Co. to inflict first Test series defeat on Pakistan in the UAE since they shifted base in 2009. In the first game, the Islanders defended a modest 135 before winning the second match by 68 runs to complete a clean sweep.
And Chandimal is now eyeing to achieve a feat which even the likes of Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Muttiah Muralitharan and other legendary cricketers have not achieved-winning a Test in India.
“We have never won a Test against India in India,” Chandimal said in Kolkata on Thursday (November 9). “So it’s a dream to win here. It’s always a pleasure to play in front of the Kolkata spectators. As I said, we need to start well as a team, and we are looking forward to that.”
Sri Lanka, however, will not find it easy to break the duck. While the fact that India is almost invincible is the biggest roadblock for the Islanders, one cannot rule out that the inexperience will also make their work tougher. Except for Angelo Mathews and Rangana Herath, none of the current squad members had toured India for a Test series, and Chandimal is hopeful the players will do well.
“Actually, this is my first Test tour to India,” he said. “Apart from Angelo (Mathews) and Rangana (Herath), all others are on their first tour to India. It’s a good challenge for each and every one. We have worked really hard. Especially before coming here, we did a lot of practice back home.
“You can see new faces – Dasun Shanaka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Roshen Silva and also, Sadeera (Samarawickrama) – in the squad. They have a really good opportunity to play against India and perform. I am sure they will put their hand up and do their best,” he added. “We all know India are the No. 1 team at the moment. But looking at our team, we did really well against Pakistan. I am sure the guys are looking forward to this challenge.”
Chandimal is also aware of the threat posed by India’s spin duo- Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. The pair had shared more than 150 wickets between them in only 13 Tests during the last home season and had picked up a combined 30 wickets when India had whitewashed the Islanders a few months ago.
“At the moment, they (Ashwin and Jadeja) are No. 1 and No. 2 in the world,” he said. “They have bowled really well in the last couple of years. As a team, we have something up our sleeves. When we face them, we need to execute that in order to compete with the Indian team. I don’t want to tell our plans in front of you guys. You can see in one week’s time what plans we have against them.”
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