Sri Lanka face Pakistan challenge

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka will be under pressure to perform when the first Test against Pakistan starts in Colombo on Monday.

They were beaten 2-0 in the one-dayers and are without their main seam bowler, Chaminda Vaas, because of injury.

"We have to take one session at a time and try to be ahead after the first six sessions - the first two days.

"Experience shows that if you give Pakistan an early advantage they are going to run away with it," said captain Mahela Jayawardene.

"The one-day series is gone. We cannot dwell on that. The challenge is to learn from the mistakes and build on the positives, which we have been focusing on doing in the last few days."

Sri Lanka are likely to recall former skipper Sanath Jayasuriya to open the batting after he passed a fitness test.

"There are no problems with him right now. I can say there is a 90% chance of him playing," Jayawardene commented.

And they can also call on star spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan, who recently became only the second man to reach 600 wickets in Tests.

"Obviously he has got a great record over the years and will take wickets on any pitch.

"We have worked a lot on how to play him and had success in the one-dayers against him. Hopefully, we can take that into the Test series as well," said Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer.

The tourists have never lost a Test series in Sri Lanka, winning 2-0 on their last visit in 2000, and it is a record they are keen to continue.

But captain Inzamam-ul-Haq insists they will be taking nothing for granted.

"Some of Sri Lanka’s players are injured but they have a great record on home soil and we are going to have to work really hard to beat them in this series," he said.

Pakistan have brought veteran off-spinner Arshad Khan into their squad, but he is unlikely to make the final XI, with Danish Kaneria and all-rounder Shahid Afridi available to provide any slow bowling which is required.

They will, however, be fielding an inexperienced seam attack with Rana Naved, Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul having played just 16 Tests between them.

Shoaib Akhtar, the world’s fastest bowler, is missing from the tour party after surgery on his knees and Mohammad Sami was not selected.

Sri Lanka (from): M Jayawardene (capt), K Sangakkara (wkt), S Jayasuriya, U Tharanga, M Vandort, T Dilshan, T Samaraweera, C Kapugedera, F Maharoof, L Malinga, N Kulasekera, D Fernando, M Muralitharan, M Bandara, S Weerakoon.

Pakistan (from): Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Kamran Akmal (wkt), Salman Butt, Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Faisal Iqbal, Imran Farhat, Shahid Afridi, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Mohammad Asif, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Danish Kaneria, Arshad Khan.