Already 1-0 up in the series, a win over India in the second
Test starting on Monday would propel them to top spot and, according to Sri
Lanka Cricket Secretary Nishantha Ranatunga, be the hosts' greatest
accomplishment in the sport.
"In the event we manage to beat India 2-0 in the
current Test series we will be ranked as the number one Test team in the world,
which would be the greatest cricketing achievement since winning the 1996 World
Cup," said Ranatunga.
Sri Lanka are currently fourth in the standings behind
India, South Africa and Australia.
Ajantha Mendis is the likely successor to Muttiah
Muralitharan, who retired after the first Test at Galle with a record haul of
800 Test wickets, and will have another opportunity to display his varied spin
against the Indians.
While he was left out of Muralitharan's farewell Test,
Mendis showed what he is capable of in a three-day warm-up game against India
when he took six wickets for 67.
With Muralitharan out of the picture and Lasith Malinga
rested because of a sore knee, Mendis has a big challenge ahead of him to
spearhead the Sri Lankan bowling attack.
"It is now Mendis' turn and we need to give him a go.
We feel he's a bowler for the future," said Sri Lanka's chairman of
selectors Aravinda de Silva.
"The only way we can make Mendis a better bowler is to
play him against top class opposition. He may go for a lot of runs but that is
where he will start learning."
Sri Lanka has Dilhara Fernando replacing Malinga for the
second Test, while Dammika Prasad could take the place of left-armer Chanaka
Welegedara, who bowled poorly at Galle.
Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath's place is also in danger as
uncapped off-spinner Suraj Randiv is pushing hard for a place in the Test side.
The hosts have had some good news in that middle-order
batsman Thilan Samaraweera will be fit to play after dislocating a finger while
fielding at Galle.
India, with an inexperienced bowling attack, will have to
come up with some fresh ideas if they are to get back into the series. They
were exposed badly at Galle when Sri Lanka hit 520-8 declared.
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said flat wickets did not help
his limited bowling attack, which has been shorn of Zaheer Khan and
Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.
"As a bowling unit, you have to keep putting the
pressure on and force the batsman to commit a mistake or you come up with
brilliant deliveries like Muralitharan and Malinga did for Sri Lanka,"
said Dhoni.
"Apart
from that, if you are a bowler with a normal action and if you don't have much
variety in your bowling, it gets really difficult to get the batsmen out once
they are set. We will have to wait and see how the wickets behave."
