Captain Mathews back for India tests after injury scare

Like India, Sri Lanka too are rebuilding following the retirement of greats such as Muttiah Muralitharan and Mahela Jayawardene, leaving Sangakkara to hold fort in his last two Tests. “Look at those staggering numbers”.

The Tamil Nadu batsman has been among India ” s best Test batsmen with series of consistent scores against quality bowling attacks all over the world. Maybe on Saturday after lunch we can bowl for two sessions and get more overs in.

Former Sri Lankan wicket-keeper batsman Romesh Kaluwitharna said, “I think it is nice that he is playing his last series with India”. Amal Silva’s wicket made Kapil Dev, the leading wicket-taker for India, going one better than Bishan Singh Bedi’s tally of 266.Sri Lanka owed it to the successful combination of Roy Dias and Duleep Mendis, whose resolute batting took the game away from India.

“I have not thought much about future”.

“The Indian team has been doing that for quite some time now, so it won’t be a surprise if they continue with that tactic”, said Kaluwitharana, about the five-bowler theory. “History and records are sidelined when the focus is on playing good cricket”.

Meanwhile, Ishant Sharma has fired a shot in the direction of Kumar Sangakkara ahead of the three-Test series starting in Galle on August 12, saying he “will go hard” at the retiring Sri Lankan batsman. They are great players. It is someone else’s time now.

Pitches in Sri Lanka are generally dusty and shorn off grass with the rain also contributing to the stickiness of the wicket. So while they might not have played regularly until now, this is a big opportunity for them to step up. We played together only in the IPL and this is global match. We have Kusal Perera, Niroshan Dickwella and others who can make up the place.