India will be under pressure : Sangakkara

India would be under pressure to maintain their home record of not losing a single Test to Sri Lanka in their previous 14 encounters,reckons Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara.

Sangakkara said he and his team-mates would do everything to break the jinx but the hosts would not be without any pressure either.

"We have to wait and see how India comes out of this loss (against Australia), especially at home. We are under no pressure. We have not won a Test here before and we are here to change things. The pressure is on India to keep their home series record intact," Sangakkara said.

Sangakkara said the Lankan new ball attack may be an inexperienced one, but that may turn out to be an advantage.

"Sometimes inexperience is good. Maybe the Indian batsmen have not really played our fast bowlers regularly in the longer format of the game.

"It's good to have some experience when you come to a country like India. But sometimes a fresh perspective, enthusiasm and right attitude will also be an added bonus," said the Lanka captain.

Sangakkara said that the presence of a performing all-rounder like Angelo Mathews has given his team a lot of options in both batting and bowling and they can even think of including all three spinners in the eleven if needed.

"It's a great option to have three spinners with someone like Angelo Mathews who is bowling so well. He gives us that flexibility as a frontline fast bowler and batsman. It frees us one spot if the wicket shows us that three spinners are a possibility," Sangakkara said.

However, he added, that on a regular basis his team went in with three fast bowlers and two spin bowlers.

"Most often we like to play three fast bowlers and two spinners. The Angelo Mathews factor gives us the edge of having a proper all-rounder in the side," he explained.

Sangakkara maintained that there was no mystery left in world cricket with the video analysis that's available today.

"Words like mystery are exaggerated. You are a mystery only in your first series with the sort of video analysis available. You have to work harder later on," he said.

Lankan mystery bowler Ajantha Mendis had troubled most of the top Indian batsmen when the last series between the two outfits was held in the Emerald Island.

Sangakkara praised left-arm spinner Rangana Herath for the progress he has made recently, especially in the series at home against New Zealand and Pakistan where he outshone not only Mendis but also world record-setting wicket-taker Muttiah Muralitharan.

"Herath is a great player. He's a positive guy who tries his heart out. Such a good spinner had to play third fiddle to Murali and Mendis which has made him hungrier. Against New Zealand and Pakistan he out-bowled Murali and Mendis by a long way. He's a very important player and we hope he can replicate that performance," the Lanka captain said.

Sangakkara said his team had two wicket-keeping options in number one Prasanna Jayawardene and Kaushal Silva and hoped his squad would settle down very soon ahead of the first Test in Ahmedabad commencing on November 16.

"Kaushal Silva, who is understudy to Prasanna Jayawardene, has scored a huge amount of runs in domestic cricket. He gives us an extra option. But we have to settle down very soon into a winning combination before the Ahmedabad Test," he said.

They are scheduled to play the second and third Tests at Kanpur and Mumbai before clashing with the hosts in two T20 Internationals and a best-of-five ODI series

 

 
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Team Matches Points Rating Ranking
Australia 51 6577
129 1
India 53
6433 121
2
Sri Lanka 42 4966
118 3
South Africa 37
4307 116 4
England
42
4430
105
5
Team Matches Points Rating Ranking
Pakistan 41 4245 104 6
New Zealand 41 3842 94 7
Bangladesh 41 2745 67 8
West Indies 29 1937 67 9

Ireland 17 712 42 10
Team Matches Points Rating Ranking

India
42 5357
128 1
South Africa 36
4228
117
2
England 45 5165 115 3
Srilanka 27 2951
109 4
Australia 43 4583 107 5
Team Matches Points Rating Ranking
Pakistan 29 2615 90 6
West Indies 25 2128 85 7
New Zealand 32 2482 78 8
Bangladesh 19 131
7 9







Name Rating Ranking
H Amla 867
1
A B De Villiers 804
2
T Dilshan 761
3
S Watson
758
4
K Sangakkara 753
5

Name Rating Ranking
M Hussey
748
6
J Trott
737 7
V Kohli 733
8
MS Dhoni 729
9
S Tendulkar 712 10
Name Rating Ranking

D Vettori 701
1
R W Price 678
2
G Swann 667
3
D Steyn 663
4
M Morkel 661
5
Name Rating Ranking
M Johnson
654
6
L Tsotsobe
652 7
AMendis 644
8
Shahid Afridi
643
9
N Kulasekara 642 10
Name Rating Ranking
S Tendulkar 883
1
J Kallis 883
2
K Sangakkara 882
3
IJL Trott
826
4
A N Cook
803
Name Rating Ranking
V Sehwag 790
6
M Jayavardene 781
7
S Chanderpaul 779 8
VVS Laxman
774
9
T T Samaraweera
763 10
Name Rating Ranking

D Steyn
899
1
G Swann 793
2
J Anderson 776
3
M Morkel 751
4
Zaheer Khan 748
5
Name Rating Ranking
M Johnson 727
6
Harbhajan Singh 672
7
Shakib Al Hasan 648
8
D Vettori
623
9
S Broad
606 10

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