Dav Whatmore previews an exciting Test series against India

Dav Whatmore National Coach

It's four months since Sri Lanka last played a Test match and we are looking forward to proving that this side can replicate its one-day success in the longer version of the game. We may not have won a Test series for over a year, but I firmly believe that this side is much stronger than those statistics suggest.

Since beating Pakistan in March last year, we have lost series against Pakistan, South Africa and England, but you need to bear in mind two things: firstly, international cricket is very competitive nowadays and that the margins between sides are smaller and, secondly, that we came so close to winning two of those four series.

Against South Africa and England we failed to win the series after nail biting matches in Kandy and in both games we lost despite having established winning positions. Unfortunately, we slipped up at crucial times and let the opposition back into the match. We failed to maintain our intensity and concentration throughout the game and paid the ultimate penalty. You have to remember though that this is still a young side and their inexperience probably told on those two occasions.

Indeed, there is now the basis of a very strong Sri Lankan Test team and I don't even believe that the players themselves really understand how good they can be.

The team has a good balance now. There is a talented batting line-up with a good mix of youth and experience, the strongest pace attack that we have had for some time, and probably the best spinner in the world today. With a little more self-belief I have no doubt whatsoever that the building blocks for sustained success are there.

Hopefully, we will take the confidence gained from three successive one-day tournament victories (England, ARY Gold Cup and Coca-Cola Cup) into the Test matches. It's also useful to be playing against a side that we so defeated so convincingly in a one-day final. Sure, it's a different game, but psychologically it should give us a boost.

India are missing a few key players because of injury (Sachin Tendulkar, VVS. Laxman, Anil Kumble and Ashish Nehra) and on paper their side contains young players still learning about the game. That doesn't mean we can take them lightly though. They too have talent and when the game begins we can expect a tough fight.

We have therefore focused preparations on our own performance. One needs to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the individuals on the opposition, but you must then turn your attention to the processes necessary to achieving success. We work on the basis that if we all do our jobs correctly then it's going to make life very difficult for any opposition.

This series is going to be a really tough one for all the players. We will be playing 15 days of Test cricket in just 20 days, which will be stretching the human mind and body to the limit. Physically it's going to be a real challenge and player fitness will be an important factor.

The short recovery time between games also heightens the value of a good start. After losing that tension draining Test match against England in Kandy we only had two days to recover before the third Test match and I believe that made it really hard for the Sri Lankan players to bounce back. The team that loses the first game in this series will also have just two days to recover and they will really have their backs to the wall.

The contest between Harbhajan Singh and Muttiah Muralitharan is going to be fascinating. Both are world-class bowlers and they have many similarities, especially in their wholesome approach to the game. Both possess a strong desire to succeed and to bowl long spells. They are naturally aggressive and expect a wicket with every delivery. Murali spins the ball more and has more variations, which is understandable considering his extra experience, whilst Harbhajan has excellent control and is a canny operator.

One key feature of the series is going to be the pace bowling. With Murali and Harbhajan participating you naturally cannot discount the spinners, but I feel that the side with the better fast bowling attack has a great chance of winning, especially if it is backed up with fine fielding.

This will give us confidence because we now have two world-class fast bowlers in Chaminda Vaas and Dilhara Fernando and have a lot of depth in our fast bowling reserves, with all three of the other fast bowlers in the 16-man squad being excellent bowlers.