5 reasons why Sri Lanka can pose a threat to India

No team has come to the UAE and defeated Pakistan in a Tt series. But against all odds, Sri Lanka dominated them in the teams' recent Test series, putting a temperary pause to their recent woes.

They managed to put a string of recent defeats behind them and beat Pakistan 2-0, something which no team has managed to do so far- beating Pakistan in a test series in their new home, UAE.

Sri Lanka are scheduled to play India in a 3-match test series starting November 16.

With Sri Lanka never having won a test match against India on Indian conditions, that would add as an extra motivation for the team. They will look at continuing their good form in test cricket off-late and probably look at creating history by challenging and defeating India on their home turf.

Here’s why Sri Lanka can pose a threat to India in the test series.

Niroshan Dickwella's wicket-keeping and batting:

Niroshan Dickwella has been Sri Lanka's biggest find in the year 2017. Their cricket has gone through a period of turmoil with the team losing matches across all formats.

But despite that if there is one player who has continously been a constant fixture across all formats and improved his game consistently, it would have to be Niroshan Dickwella. The 24 year old wicket-keeper has come of age in the past year.

He has played 12 tests so far with an impressive average of 35.85 which would get better. The best part about his batting is he attacks the spinners, be it Yasir Shah against Pakistan or even Ravi Ashwin when India played Sri Lanka recently.

His batting is infused with positivity and optimism and that would pose a big threat to India. If Dickwella can curb his enthusiasm and play with a little more patience then batting down the order he can definitely cause headaches for India's bowlers.

One more aspect of his game, his wicket-keeping, is also a big positive for Sri Lanka. Right from encouraging the bowlers when the pitch has nothing much for them to be able to be useful and behind the stumps, he is capable.

His wicket-keeping was fantastic in a energy sapping series in the heat of UAE recently, and his ability to bat under immense pressure in the 4th innings of a test match, which was witnessed in the second test against Pakistan can pose a threat to India.

Sri Lanka can exploit the weariness of some Indian players

R Ashwin has been active in County cricket

There is nothing which can replace match time. Especially match time at the international level. There are many players in this Indian test team who in recent times have become test match specialists.

The Indian bowling line-up - Ravi Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami have hardly had any game time for India barring a few ODIs which Yadav and Shami played against Australia.

Going into the test series after playing for their respective Ranji trophy sides, and Ashwin having had a good run in the county circuit for Worcestershire, these players are not out of game time. But there will most certainly weariness the bowlers would show when they play for India in this series after a gap of about 4 months.

This is where Sri Lanka’s batsmen would have to react quickly, capitalise on the situation and make sure the bowlers don’t settle into a rhythm. Because once they do, India will most certainly get on top in this contest.

Sri Lanka's batsmen like Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal and Niroshan Dickwella play spin pretty well and they should look at exploiting the weariness shown by Jadeja and Ashwin right from the beginning of the series to get a physcological advantage over them.

Also someone like Cheteshwar Pujara who will be seen in Indian colors after a gap of 4 months or so, has the tenadancy to fiddle outside the off-stump early on his innings. If Sri Lanka can exploit that weakness in Pujara's technique with using Gamage, Lakmal and Mathews effectively then they can pose a threat to India.

India bats upto number 6 position with Ashwin, Pandya and Jadeja to follow. So the regular specalist batsman's responsibility increases and if Sri Lanka can exploit this to their advantage then probably they can restrict the Indians to lower totals, thus increasing their chances of challenging India.

Dinesh Chandimal’s batting and captaincy

In times when the team is going through a real rough patch, the series win in the UAE against a strong Pakistan side is a big boost to the morale of Sri Lanka. Credit should be given to the team’s performance which has been captained by Chandimal.

Not to forget, the same captain was at the receiving end of a series whitewash at home against India, and personally as a batsman there were lot of questions raised about his inclusion in the team.

Putting aside all that negativity, on tiring, tough playing conditions in the UAE where Pakistan have dominated in recent times, Sri Lanka was able to pull off a convincing series win.

Dinesh Chandimal the batsman stood up and scored a total of 224 runs with a superb knock of 155 not out in the first test match at Abu Dhabi and led by example. His outstanding partnership with Karunaratne was among the key reasons for Sri Lanka’s win in the first test match.

And the good run with the bat rubbed off in his captaincy as he was very proactive with his field placements, used the bowlers well and more importantly made sure whilst the spinners were causing havoc, he applied more pressure with some aggressive captaincy.

For Sri Lanka to pose a threat against India, Chandimal the batsman would have to continue from where he left off in the UAE. Most importantly, he would need to build an environment where the team would be positive and always look to attack. As once you get into a defensive mindset as a captain, it usually rubs off on the players as well, affecting the performance of the team.

In what could be a real test of skill and character for Sri Lanka when they face off against India, if Dinesh Chandimal can continue his good run with the bat and more importantly stay positive when things get tough then India could be challenged. With Angelo Mathews back in the side he can use his experience and guidance.

Dimuth Karunaratne - a dependable opener

In the past few years, Sri Lanka have tried many openers and many opening combinations but nothing seemed to have worked. As they would expose the fragile middle-order very early in the piece thus leading to many batting collapses for Sri Lanka.

But Sri Lanka persisted with Dimuth Karunaratne and he has delivered on the promise. Even in the series whitewash at home, his batting was a big positive which Sri Lanka could carry forward. His ability to bat solidly, bat long hours and score at a decent pace has led to his growth as a batsman.

And that was clearly evident in the series win in the UAE where he was the man of the series with a total tally of 306 runs which included a fantastic knock of 196 runs. He has always said that he wanted to take on more responsibility and spend more time in the middle.

He did that with aplomb in the series against Pakistan. He looked equally at ease against the seamers and spinners which is a big positive for Sri Lanka.

Heading into a tough series against a formidable India on their home soil, Sri Lanka would hope their opener continues to shoulder responsibility, bat long and score big against India. As mentioned earlier, if this Sri Lankan batting team can collectively perform well then they can pose a threat to this Indian team.

Rangana Herath- The champion spinner

Age is just a number. Take the example of Misbah-Ul-Haq, Younis Khan for Pakistan or Sri Lanka’s very own war horse, Rangana Herath. He became the oldest spinner at the age of 39 years to enter the 400 wicket club. He achieved that in 84 test matches which also is a remarkable feat.

Without doubt, he is Sri Lanka’s trump card. He rattled Pakistan with a total tally of 16 wickets in the series recently leading to a series win for Sri Lanka. India were able to completely nuetralise Rangana Herath’s threat in the series played in Sri Lanka recently.

They found ways to play him out without much fuss, and they were also helped by some lackluster bowling from the others who completely let the momentum shift in India’s favor.

Herath has expressed desire to win a test match in India. So this would add to him wanting him to do well and contribute much better than his previous outing against India where on spin friendly conditions he managed to pick up only 5 wickets in two tests.

Without a doubt, the pitches in India will suit someone like Herath, especially in the second innings when the pitch crumbles a lot. But to pose a threat to this Indian batting line up which bats very deep, Herath alone can’t win games for his team.

The other bowlers will also have to be on their best form, constantly apply pressure on the Indian batters. If Sri Lanka can replicate what they did recently in the UAE where as a bowling unit - they were good and persistent - then India will be challenged.