Captain De Silva believes Sri Lanka hold advantage over India

Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva believes his side are well prepared to gain the upper hand against India when the first Test begins in Galle on Saturday.

The hosts are well aware of how dramatically conditions at Galle can change during a Test. Sri Lanka will hope to exploit those conditions against an Indian side that have struggled against spin in recent years, losing home Test series to New Zealand and South Africa. However, De Silva believes those defeats will only motivate India to bounce back.

“International cricket is not easy. If we can take the games to the fourth and fifth day, we will have a greater chance to beat them. I hope we make it as hard as possible for them and they are under the pump during the series,” De Silva told The Times of India ahead of the first Test.

“Well, India did lose two series against New Zealand and South Africa in India on turning wickets, but it’s not that they have forgotten how to play on turning wickets. They’ll surely be itching to make a comeback.

“We have a strong batting lineup as well, so I feel pitches will be sporting – helping batters in the first two or three days and then start turning. Spinners are going to be our primary line of attack. But, that said, we’ve some quality seamers in our team who can change the game,” he added.

According to De Silva, the biggest challenge for batters will be adapting once the pitch starts turning rather than simply negotiating the initial spells of spin.

“The difference is that it’s quite hard to get runs over here and the batters really need to dig in and show temperament to score sizeable numbers of runs,” he said.

De Silva feels Sri Lanka have an advantage because their batters are accustomed to reading the conditions and adjusting their approach as the pitch changes.

“We know how to approach our innings. We know when it’s going to start turning. Several batters become clueless when it turns and don’t know how to go about a knock in these conditions,” he said.

Despite India missing several key players, De Silva insisted Sri Lanka would not underestimate their opponents.

“Even if India are missing some of their key players, I’m not going to take them lightly. They have several match-winners in their team,” he said.

The absence of Jasprit Bumrah, however, could be a significant boost for the hosts.

“He will be a big loss for India,” De Silva said. “But we’ve done our homework for others and we’re well prepared for them.”

For India, De Silva believes KL Rahul could pose the biggest threat. The Sri Lankan captain highlighted Rahul’s experience and familiarity with local conditions.

“I would say experience-wise KL Rahul would be the biggest threat for us. He has done well all around the world and he has played a few matches in Sri Lanka as well. Last time, in 2017, I think he played in our conditions and knows it pretty well,” he said.

With Galle likely to become increasingly challenging as the Test progresses, Sri Lanka will look to make their experience of playing in home conditions count and put India under sustained pressure across the five days.