Elated by their triumph in the ODI series, Sri Lanka will be looking for a repeat of the home Test series against Australia in 2016 when the two teams leave aside the fanfare of white ball cricket and get down to more series stuff with the first of two Tests starting in Galle on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka had a 3-0 clean sweep of Australia the last time the two teams played in a Test series in the island but the difference this time will be that the home team will be without their supreme match winning spin bowlers Rangana Herath and Dilruwan Perera.
The duo accounted for 41 of the 60 wickets to fall with Herath claiming 27 scalps and Dilruwan accounting for 14. But it won’t be a cake-walk for Sri Lanka in Galle this time minus Herath and Dilruwan who accounted for 16 of the 20 wickets in the Galle Test.
To replace the two Sri Lanka will have to choose from Praveen Jayawickrema, Lasith Embuldeniya and Jeffrey Vandersay who make up the three spinners in an 18-member squad for the two-Test series against Australia.
The three previous Tests were decided at Pallekele, Galle and the SSC ground in Colombo while Dilruwan had a dream match in Galle when he plucked a match bag of 10 wickets and smashed 64 in a Sri Lanka second innings total of 237.
Australia were bowled out for 106 in the first innings with David Warner top scoring with 42 and Dilruwan and Herath taking four scalps each.
When the Australians take the field in Galle on June 29, Warner will have to overcome most of the fears after his team set a target of 413 were bowled out for 183 with Dilruwan grabbing six wickets and Herath two scalps and Sri Lanka winning by a whopping 229 runs.
Warner made scores of 41 and 42 while Steven Smith made 30 in the second essay.
But how Sri Lanka will cope up against the Aussies in Galle without the likes of Dilruwan and Herath is left to be seen.
Sri Lanka will also have to put up against the pace of Mitchell Starc who despite bowling on the slow track in Galle took 11 wickets in the match while spinner Nathan Lyon had four scalps as the home team made scores of 281 and 237.
Sri Lanka skipper and opener Dimuth Karunaratne will also have to overcome a poor record he had in the last home series against Australia especially in Galle with most of the run-making done by Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews and Dhananjaya de Silva apart from Dilruwan’s quick-fire 65 in the second essay.
Sri Lanka Test squad:
Dimuth Karunaratne (captain), Pathum Nissanka de Silva, Oshada Fernando, Angelo Mathews, Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kamindu Mendis, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Ramesh Mendis, Chamika Karunaratne, Kasun Rajitha, Vishwa Fernando, Asitha Fernando, Dilshan Madushanka, Praveen Jayawickrama, Lasith Embuldeniya, Jeffrey Vandersay
Standby Players: Dunith Wellalage, Lakshitha Rasanjana
Australia Test squad:
Pat Cummins (captain), Scot Boland, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Ousman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, David Warner, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Manus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Mitchell Swepson