da supremo： Sri Lanka may have put their faith in pace against India but their strategyhas changed for the West Indies Test series and the selectors have pickedthree spinners for the first Test starting next week in Galle
CricInfo08-Nov-2001Sri Lanka may have put their faith in pace against India but their strategyhas changed for the West Indies Test series and the selectors have pickedthree spinners for the first Test starting next week in Galle.The 15-man squad, still to be confirmed by the Sports Ministry, but selectedon Tuesday night after the teams return from Sharjah, includes off-spinnerMuttiah Muralitharan, slow left-arm spinner Niroshan Bandaratillake andoff-spinning all-rounder Thilan Samaraweera. All are expected to play on apitch that traditionally favours spin.The decision forced hasty changes to the Sri Lanka A side to take on theWest Indies at Matara on Thursday. Clearly trying to reduce the tourist’sexposure to spin in their last warm-up game, they left out Bandaratillakeand picked four fast bowlers and just one specialist spinner.The 26-year-old Bandaratillake, who is also a useful late order batsman, hasplayed in four Tests, having made his debut against New Zealand in 1997. Hegrabbed 9-82 in his second game, but fell out of favour and has not playedsince the inaugural Asian Test Championship in 1999.The selectors have also recalled all-rounder Suresh Perera, whose bowlingaction has been reviewed and cleared after being by a Sri Lankan boardappointed panel of bowling experts. Their final report has been already beensent to the ICC.West Indian umpire Steve Bucknor had reported Perera’s bowling action to theICC during the first Test against India at Galle. He subsequently played inthe second Test, but was dropped for the third Test and was not selected forSharjah.With Sri Lanka apparently set to play three spinners, Perera is unlikely toplay though, especially as Thilan Samaraweera, his replacement in the SSCTest against India, scored a century on debut.With strike bowler Dilhara Fernando injured the selectors have pickedleft-arm fast bowler Ruchira Perera, Charitha Buddhika Fernando and recalledNuwan Zoysa, who has now fully recovered from ankle injury sustained beforethe Indian tour. With Chaminda Vaas certain to play this leaves four fastbowlers fighting for one place, with Ruchira Perera being the currentfront-runner.The seven batsmen remain unchanged from Sri Lanka’s last Test match againstBangladesh but, after his good form in Sharjah, Russel Arnold is set toreclaim his place after being dropped against Bangladesh in September.Left-hander Michael Vandort remains in the squad.Arnold was due to captain the Sri Lanka A side, but with runs under hisbelt, the selectors retained Hashan Tillakaratne, who gets a chance to spendsome time in the middle after bad weather prevented him from battingColombo.The first Test starts on 13 November.Full team:Sanath Jayasuriya (Capt), Marvan Atapattu, Mahela Jayawardene, RusselArnold, Kumar Sangakkara, Hashan Tillakaratne, Michael Vandort, ThilanSamaraweera, Suresh Perera, Muttiah Muralitharan, Niroshan Bandaratillake,Ruchira Perera, Chaminda Vaas, Charitha Buddhika Fernando, Nuwan Zoysa