Sri Lanka vs Pakistan 1st Test-at Galle Battle of Veterans

The battle between veterans will get underway when Sri Lanka take on Pakistan in their first Test match today at Galle.
Sri Lanka’s batting great Kumar Sangakkara who had returned to the country in between his Surrey engagement, is closing in on his retirement saga, which started last year with the T20 World Cup triumph. Nevertheless, he will have a few more matches to play in front of his home crowd, starting from Sri Lanka’s favourite venue for Test wins – Galle. Rangana Herath the home team’s veteran spinner will be leading the attack, and he is a bowler who could turn the match single handedly in favour of the home side as he did when the two teams last met at the same venue.
Veteran visiting skipper Misbah-Ul-Haq and Younis Khan will be the backbone of the Pakistan batting line-up, where late bloomer, the 36-year-old left arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar, will fill the void created by Saeed Ajmal .
“When it comes to Pakistan they are no strangers to Sri Lankan conditions” said home skipper Angelo Mathews about their most common opposition in the near past. Sri Lanka is walking into the series with a break of more than two months after the World Cup, while Pakistan played a series against Bangladesh followed by the first of their home series in six years against Zimbabwe. Going into the first Test, the home team is settled with their batting lineup for the first six positions, opening with Kaushal Silva and Dimuth Karunarathne, while the number seven batting position will be chosen from among Kithuruwan Vithanage, Jehan Mubarak and Kusal Perera. Mubarak, who has returned to the team based on his bulk of run in the domestic season, again failed to impress in the three-day practice match against Pakistan, while Kusal Perera and Kithuruwan Vithanage were in good form in the Pakistan A tour. But according to skipper Mathews, Kithuruwan is favourite to grab the position.
“Kithuruwan is a strong contender (for the number seven position)” said Mathews.
Sri Lanka attack will comprise of two spinners and two fast bowlers. Herath will be the leader of the pack, while the other place will be a toss-up between Tharindu Kaushal and Dilruwan Perera, even though Perera holds the edge over Kaushal.
Pace attack will be chosen from Dammika Prasad, Dushmantha Chameera and Nuwan Pradeep, as Suranga Lakmal will not be considered for this test due to fitness.
Pakistan will have a new opener in their side as Shan Masood, who impressed in the A team as well as practice match, is set to take guard alongside Mohammad Hafeez, while the pace attack will be lead by the fury of Wahab Riaz who will be a joy to watch. In the ICC ranking Pakistan lies in sixth position, one place ahead of the home side, who lie on seven. A win in the series, be it 2-1 or clean sweep, both teams could end up in third position.
Rain could be spoiler as it has been raining from time to time in Galle for the last few days, including 20 minutes of heavy rain yesterday morning. However, both teams are positive about getting a result.
Pakistan squad:
Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali (vc), Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Yasir Shah, Zulfiqar Babar, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Imran Khan, Ehsan Adi.
Sri Lanka squad:
Angelo Mathews (capt), Lahiru Thirimanne (vc), Kaushal Silva, Dimuth Karunarathne, Kumar Sangakkara, Dinesh Chandimal, Kithuruwan Vithanage, Jehan Mubarak, Kusal Perera, Rangana Herath, Dilruwan Perera, Tharindu Kaushal, Nuwan Pradeep, Dhammika Prasad, Dushmantha Chameera.