Dav Whatmore previews an exciting Test series against India
Dav Whatmore - 12 August 2001
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Dav Whatmore National Coach
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It's four months since Sri Lanka last played a Test match and we are
looking forward to proving that this side can replicate its one-day
success in the longer version of the game. We may not have won a Test
series for over a year, but I firmly believe that this side is much
stronger than those statistics suggest.
Since beating Pakistan in March last year, we have lost series against
Pakistan, South Africa and England, but you need to bear in mind two
things: firstly, international cricket is very competitive nowadays
and that the margins between sides are smaller and, secondly, that we
came so close to winning two of those four series.
Against South Africa and England we failed to win the series after
nail biting matches in Kandy and in both games we lost despite having
established winning positions. Unfortunately, we slipped up at crucial
times and let the opposition back into the match. We failed to
maintain our intensity and concentration throughout the game and paid
the ultimate penalty. You have to remember though that this is still a
young side and their inexperience probably told on those two
occasions.
Indeed, there is now the basis of a very strong Sri Lankan Test team
and I don't even believe that the players themselves really understand
how good they can be.
The team has a good balance now. There is a talented batting line-up
with a good mix of youth and experience, the strongest pace attack
that we have had for some time, and probably the best spinner in the
world today. With a little more self-belief I have no doubt whatsoever
that the building blocks for sustained success are there.
Hopefully, we will take the confidence gained from three successive
one-day tournament victories (England, ARY Gold Cup and Coca-Cola Cup)
into the Test matches. It's also useful to be playing against a side
that we so defeated so convincingly in a one-day final. Sure, it's a
different game, but psychologically it should give us a boost.
India are missing a few key players because of injury (Sachin
Tendulkar, VVS. Laxman, Anil Kumble and Ashish Nehra) and on paper
their side contains young players still learning about the game. That
doesn't mean we can take them lightly though. They too have talent and
when the game begins we can expect a tough fight.
We have therefore focused preparations on our own performance. One
needs to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the individuals on
the opposition, but you must then turn your attention to the processes
necessary to achieving success. We work on the basis that if we all do
our jobs correctly then it's going to make life very difficult for any
opposition.
This series is going to be a really tough one for all the players. We
will be playing 15 days of Test cricket in just 20 days, which will be
stretching the human mind and body to the limit. Physically it's going
to be a real challenge and player fitness will be an important factor.
The short recovery time between games also heightens the value of a
good start. After losing that tension draining Test match against
England in Kandy we only had two days to recover before the third Test
match and I believe that made it really hard for the Sri Lankan
players to bounce back. The team that loses the first game in this
series will also have just two days to recover and they will really
have their backs to the wall.
The contest between Harbhajan Singh and Muttiah Muralitharan is going
to be fascinating. Both are world-class bowlers and they have many
similarities, especially in their wholesome approach to the game. Both
possess a strong desire to succeed and to bowl long spells. They are
naturally aggressive and expect a wicket with every delivery. Murali
spins the ball more and has more variations, which is understandable
considering his extra experience, whilst Harbhajan has excellent
control and is a canny operator.
One key feature of the series is going to be the pace bowling. With
Murali and Harbhajan participating you naturally cannot discount the
spinners, but I feel that the side with the better fast bowling attack
has a great chance of winning, especially if it is backed up with fine
fielding.
This will give us confidence because we now have two world-class fast
bowlers in Chaminda Vaas and Dilhara Fernando and have a lot of depth
in our fast bowling reserves, with all three of the other fast bowlers
in the 16-man squad being excellent bowlers.
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