India captain Virat Kohli not distracted by Kumar Sangakkara farewells

As Sri Lanka prepare for a memorable farewell for veteran batsman Kumar Sangakkara, India will look to regroup and avenge the loss in the first Test when they square up for the second of the three-match series at the P. Sara Oval from Thursday.

The prolific left-hander, the highest run-getter among those still playing at the highest level, will bid adieu to worldwide cricket after the match, ending a glorious 15-year career.

“We can’t thank Sangakkara enough for what he has done for Sri Lankan cricket and want to give him a winning farewell”, said Mathews in an expected beginning to his media address. “Sangakkara has not only been a great servant of the game, but he is a great human being too”. He has been the backbone of Sri Lankan cricket’s batting over the past 18 years.

“All our batsmen are among the best against spin”, he stressed. However, they would want a few of them to come good with Sangakkara heading the list.

“The best we could do is to try and win the game so that we win the series that will be the best farewell for him”. “From what I can see, he wants to score a hundred and has been working hard”, Mathews informed.

“You can keep him for later on in the innings to give you control or… if the wicket is helpful, with the new ball, why not?”

“India had us by our throats for 3½ days and the courage and the character the boys showed is unbelievable to come back within three sessions to win the game”, said Mathews. “There was a lot of excitement when people found out that the Trinity College captain Sangakkara was going to be playing with the NCC, because some of the past Trinitians like Ravi Ratnayake had been outstanding gentlemen cricketers”. The team management read the pitch perfectly in Galle and went in with three spinners; the P Sara is more a pacers’ ally and India will revert to type with two spinners in the playing XI.

Sri Lanka has a habit of winning the first Test of a series which is always played at Galle and then conceding the next Test and sometimes the series in the latter matches.

However, Mishra maintains the batsmen are not bad players of spin attributing their tentativeness to a lack of match practice since it was only their third Test in eight months.

Herath grabbed seven wickets as Virat Kohli’s men, chasing a modest victory target of 176, were skittled for 112 soon after lunch on the fourth day.

Mathews said Sri Lanka had the edge going into the second Test, but warned his team against taking victory for granted. “But we have shoved the win in Galle under the carpet”. “Throughout the game, we dominated and it feels odd to be on the losing side, but that is unfortunately Test cricket”.

Mathews said seamer Nuwan Pradeep had suffered a hamstring injury, but young fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera was likely to return after missing the Galle Test with a side strain.

Compounding the visitors’ problems, opener Shikhar Dhawan – their top scorer at Galle – has been ruled out of the remainder of the series with a fractured hand.