MUMBAI – With the first Test less than a week away, Sri Lanka coach Graham Ford was satisfied with what he saw on the final day of his side’s last warm-up match, Indian media reported on Monday.
Leicestershire, despite making nine changes to their first XI, gave the tourists a good work out in a low-key encounter. Less pleasing for Sri Lanka was the confirmation that Dhammika Prasad has been ruled out of playing at Headingley.
Prasad injured his shoulder while bowling against Essex last week and, although it was described as nothing more than a niggle at the time, Ford said that it was more serious than initially thought. “He’s not available for the first Test and it’s an ongoing assessment, on a daily basis,” he said.
“I am hoping that we can get him bowling again fairly soon. Then we’ll have to build him up and get quite a number of overs bowled in the nets in order to prepare him for potentially the second and third Test.” Prasad was at Grace Road and, as the day drew to a close, was given a workout to test his shoulder’s readiness. A specialist came to assess the injury but, in Ford’s words, he’s still got a bit of an issue.
If he is to make the second or the third Test, a lot of work, both on the shoulder and in the nets, will be required. It is a huge blow for Sri Lanka and perhaps a relief for England, who were put to the sword by Prasad during the 2014 Headingley Test, when he took 5 for 50, which included dismissing the top four in an inspired evening spell on day four.
Ford could however reflect with satisfaction on a fine unbeaten hundred from Dimuth Karunaratne, which showcased his worth at the top of the innings (and helped make up for a four-ball duck in the first innings). There was also starts for Kaushal Silva and Lahiru Thirimanne. “It was nice to see a couple more finding form,” Ford said.
He also took the opportunity to back Thirimanne, who has endured a torrid run in Test cricket, with two half-centuries in his last 28 innings. While he did finish on 40 not out, it was far from a convincing innings. Aside from one lusty six off Rob Sayer, which rattled the press box at the Bennett End, most of his runs came behind square. Ford, though, had nothing but belief in a player he said has been there and done it.
“He has played against big, tough opposition before and scored runs. That’s a big plus. Unfortunately he’s coming back from injury so he hasn’t had as much cricket as he would have liked or we would have liked. But he’s getting himself back into some good touch, which is really good going forward.”
The major bright spot was the overall performance of Dusan Shanaka. His first-innings 112 was followed by 16-wicketless overs with the ball. He took a while to get going but produced a few deliveries on a flattening pitch that beat the outside edge and popped off a length. The fact that he is a seam-bowling allrounder – a dime a dozen in Sri Lankan cricket at the moment – is something Ford is enticed by, particularly in English conditions.