GALLE, Sri Lanka (Reuters)
India's young batsmen go into their three-Test series against Sri Lanka under pressure to perform in the absence through injury of key players Sachin Tendulkar and Vangipurappu Laxman.

The tourists will face a sharp pace attack and the world-class offspin of Muttiah Muralitharan in this southern fort town in the first match of a series expected to be closely fought in heat and humidity.

The Galle opener, which starts on Tuesday, will be followed by Tests at Kandy (August 22-26) and Colombo (August 29-September 2).

Sourav Ganguly's India side enter the series after a demoralising defeat to Sri Lanka in a one-day triangular final in Colombo last week, their eighth consecutive reverse at the last stage of a one-day series.

Sri Lanka coach Dav Whatmore said his team would be buoyed by the success: "It's an added confidence bonus when you playthe same opposition in Tests within a week and a half of the one-day win."

India suffered a major blow on the eve of the series last week when top batsman Tendulkar was ruled out with a hairline fracture in his right foot. Laxman, who holds the record for the highest Test score by an Indian, was then sidelined because of a torn knee ligament. This will be the first Test missed by Tendulkar through injury since his debut as a 15-year-old in 1989.

Young medium-pacer Ashish Nehra is also unavailable because of groin trouble while fellow left-armer Zaheer Khan was cleared by doctors only a few days ago after a shin complaint.

India arrive in Sri Lanka after drawing their recent two-Test series in Zimbabwe 1-1. Poor batting let them down in the second match of that series and, following their Sri Lankan rubber, they face a tough tour to South Africa.

Captain Ganguly will be expected to make runs against the Sri Lankans, having failed to get a fifty in his last 10 Test innings.

"We need to bat well if we are to win the series," said Ganguly, who denied that the tourists were under any added pressure after losing the one-day triangular final to Sri Lanka.

"The Test series is going to be a different ball game. We have the advantage of Sri Lanka not winning their last four series and they have lost the last two Test series at home," he said.

Sri Lanka have been struggling in Tests at home in recent months, losing 2-0 to Pakistan and 2-1 to England earlier this year with a 1-1 draw to South Africa in between. India hold a 7-1 win-loss record from 20 Tests against Sri Lanka, but their last full series triumph away came eight years ago.

India's batting will hinge on youngsters Hemang Badani, fellow left-hander Dinesh Mongia and Mohammad Kaif in the absence of Tendulkar and Laxman. All three failed in last week's three-day game against a Sri Lanka Board XI side, although openers Shiv Sundar Das and Sadagopan Ramesh both hit fifties.

Ganguly, though, was not worried. "It is just one knock," he said. "They are all good cricketers and have scored lot of runs in first-class cricket in India."

The game itself was abandoned on the final day because of a dangerous pitch, giving the tourists little practice on the eve of the Test series.

Sri Lanka have added experience to their young batting line-up by recalling 34-year-old left-hander Hashan Tillekaratne after two years and uncapped Michael Vandort, a tall 21-year-old opener who made 116 in the warm-up game against India.

Both teams will look to their respective pace attacks during the series with the hosts selecting five medium-pacers and India four in their squads.

The Lankan attack will be led by Dilhara Fernando, 21, whose lively pace in the one-dayers troubled even Laxman and the experienced Rahul Dravid. Whatmore said his team would also focus on pace. "We have the talent to do that, something which I would like to explore even further," he said.

But the series is expected to be a personal battle between Muralitharan, Sri Lanka's highest Test wicket-taker with 317 victims, and the emerging India offspinner Harbhajan Singh.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd