Sri Lanka's cautious confidence from India

When Virat Kohli’s Test squad arrived in Sydney two months ago, they nursed a single over-arching ambition they would quickly realise – to become the first India outfit to triumph in a Test series in Australia.

The peripatetic Sri Lanka squad that slipped in from across the Tasman Sea last week brought with them demonstrably less fanfare, and a far less lofty goal.

As former Test seamer turned Sri Lanka bowling coach Rumesh Ratnayake outlined today at the Gabba where the first Domain Series Test against Australia begins on Thursday, his team is simply hoping to win a match.

At some stage, and some point during their current southern hemisphere odyssey that began in New Zealand (two Tests, three ODIs and a T20I) in early December, and will conclude in South Africa (two Tests, five ODIs, two T20Is) in late March.

The distinct disparity between Kohli’s number one-ranked Test team overtly eyeing, and then safely securing, a series triumph and sixth-ranked Sri Lanka’s modest hopes of snagging a solitary win in three nations across as many months is understandable.

While India had gone 70 years without defeating Australia at home on aggregate,they had won more than a few individual battles along the way.

By contrast, Sri Lanka have yet to experience a Test match win on Australia’s turf since they first visited in 1987 - back when Ratnayake was playing, even if he was missing from that historic maiden tour.

“I think India speaks loud,” Ratnayake said prior to his team’s major pink-ball training session this afternoon prior to the day-night Test match, a format that Sri Lanka have experienced just twice previously.

“For the Indians to come here, in batting and bowling and even in the fielding, they showed the world every place they go to is a home-(away) from-home. 

“I believe we can take that from the Indians, and we can go forward. 

“We came here with the motto to win a Test match – we are going to New Zealand,  Australia and South Africa, so we would love to win a Test match in a country, and Australia is one of them.”

While Sri Lanka have enjoyed past wins in New Zealand (twice) and South Africa (once) since earning Test status in 1981, they have endured more than their share of grief when hosted in Australia.

From the pain of being drawn to play their first Australia Test on Perth’s bouncy, hostile pitch to the ignominy of their greatest-ever bowler Muthiah Muralidaran being repeatedly called for throwing on Boxing Day in 1995, they have found little enjoyment here.

The closest they’ve come to winning was in Hobart 11 years ago, when a batting line-up laced with the talents of Marvan Atapattu, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Sanath Jayasuriya came within 96 runs of chasing down an unlikely last-day victory target of 500.

Even when Ratnayake claimed the best Test figures by any Sri Lanka bowler in Australia – his 6-66, also at Hobart, in 1989 outdoing anything that Muralidaran, Chaminda Vaas, Lasith Malinga or Rangana Herath have managed here -  his team lost by a hefty 173 runs.

So although Australia’s stocks have slipped to the extent they are now ranked fifth on the ICC global ladder, and they are missing their two top-ranked batters (Steve Smith and David Warner) as well as their second-ranked bowler (Josh Hazlewood), Sri Lanka are less buoyant than were their sub-continental neighbours.

And given their preparation for this two-Test series, that reticence is justifiable.

Australia cricket might have undergone a radical upheaval following events in Cape Town last March, but over the past year Sri Lanka have also became embroiled in a ball-tampering incident.

As a result, Test skipper Dinesh Chandimal, coach Chandika Hathurusinghe and manager Asanka Gurusinha were all suspended for two Tests and four ODIs for their roles in protesting a ball-tampering charge levelled against Chandimal.

Sri Lanka’s limited-overs captain Angelo Mathews was then stood down from his post, and the ICC launched a wide-scale investigation into corruption within the nation’s top-level cricket.

Under that inquiry, the ICC announced an ongoing 15-day amnesty under which anyone involved with Sri Lanka cricket can come forward to report any information they have regarding illegal conduct or representations.

“I would urge any more players or participants who have any information concerning corrupt conduct to come forward over the next week and share it with us in the strictest of confidence without any fear of repercussions,” ICC General Manager Anti-Corruption Alex Marshall said yesterday.

And in past weeks, Mathews was ruled out of the upcoming series against Australia due to injury while pace bowler Nuwan Pradeep was also sidelined after breaking down in his opening spell of the tourists’ sole warm-up fixture.

As a consequence, Ratnayake cautiously acknowledges that while Sri Lanka might never see a better opportunity to create history against an opponent that is experiencing a similar state of flux, history has taught him to be very wary.

“I think it is certainly one of the better chances, (but) I wouldn’t say the best chance,” Ratnayake said,

“A wounded Australia is a bit of a mystery in any sport really. 

“So we understand that, and we know that when they are wounded they will be at their best. 

“No chance is taken lightly (but) it’s one of our best chances.

“The preparation has been quite good, there have been a few hiccups but that has all be forgotten and hopefully the boys come into good nick on Thursday.”

Domain Test Series v Sri Lanka

Australia: Tim Paine (c/wk), Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Kurtis Patterson, Will Pucovski, Matt Renshaw, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle

Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal (c), Dimuth Karunaratne, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dhananjaya de Silva, Roshen Silva, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Kusal Perera, Dilruwan Perera, Lakshan Sandakan, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Kumara, Dushmantha Chameera, Kasun Rajitha

Jan 17-19: Tour match, CA XI v SL, Hobart (D/N)

Jan 24-28: First Test, Gabba (D/N)

Feb 1-5: Second Test, Canberra