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Kanpur: Sri Lanka will renew efforts to win their first-ever Test in India when the second match begins on Tuesday, after being frustrated by a flat wicket in the opening tie.
The islanders, who have never won a Test on Indian soil in six previous series, gave themselves a fair chance of scripting history at Ahmedabad by stacking up a huge 760 for 7 declared in their first innings.
But India wiped out a 334-run deficit on first innings, thanks to a docile pitch and some resolute batting by their top-order batsmen.
Sri Lanka's bowlers started out well to reduce India to 32 for 4 in the opening session but allowed them to score 426 in their first knock and struggled again in the second innings, failing to take 10 wickets over nearly four sessions.
The world's leading wicket-taker, Muttiah Muralitharan, was unable to take even a single wicket off 38 overs in the second innings, raising doubts over his effectiveness on flat wickets.
Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara said he was disappointed by the Motera track but admitted they should not have let India get away after having them on the mat on the first day of the match.
Sangakkara was not the only one rueing the pitch, which saw a whopping 1,598 runs being scored, including a world-record sixth wicket stand of 351 between Mahela Jayawardene (275) and Prasanna Jayawardene (154 not out).
His Indian counterpart Mahendra Singh Dhoni was equally critical.
"The wicket was bad. It wasn't much help to the spinners. For the fast bowlers also the wicket got slower and slower," said Dhoni.
"We knew if we didn't give early wickets to the Sri Lankan bowlers it would be very difficult for them to get 10 wickets and that's what happened."
The focus in the second Test might once again be on the wicket that is laid out at the Green Park stadium.
The last Test played here between India and South Africa saw the home side wrap up an eight-wicket victory inside three days on a sub-standard track, prompting a warning from the ICC.
The wicket has since been relaid but the local media said the authorities wanted the match to be played on a "tried and tested" pitch.
Sri Lankan are already without fast bowler Thilan Thushara who had to go back home after failing to recover from a freak shoulder injury, suffered during a training session ahead of the first match.
The third and final Test begins in Mumbai on December 2.
Teams
India: Gambhir continuing to look immovable, Dravid rediscovering his touch, Tendulkar looking more determined than ever, and Laxman intent on proving anybody who whispers 'old age' wrong, Sehwag has the license to thrill. So Indian hopefully repeate same XI at Green Park.
Squad (likely): Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma.
Sri Lanka: They, like India, have a hard decision to make when picking the second spinner. They could go with Ajantha Mendis who has a proven track record against India, or with Rangana Herath who has been in better form than Mendis in the recent past.
Squad (likely): Kumar Sangakkara (capt), Muttiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Tharanga Paranavitana, Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), Dilhara Fernando/Dammika Prasad, Rangana Herath/Ajantha Mendis, Chanaka Welegedara.
Pitch and conditions
The last time India played a Test in Kanpur, they prepared a spin track to trounce South Africa by eight wickets. They even opened the bowling with Harbhajan in the second innings. This time around the curator says it will be a sporting track with the spinners coming into play from the third day. A lot of attention has been showered on the pitch in the lead-up to this Test.
Stats and Trivia
Match facts
Tuesday, November 24 - Saturday November 28, 2009
Start time 09:30 local (04:00 GMT)
