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Sri Lanka announced their 14 member squad that would play India in the first Test match that starts in a couple of days time. And unsurpringly, Ajantha mendis made the cut in the squad. With no other frontline spinner in the squad except Muralitharan, it is a foregone conclusion that Mendis would make it to the final playing XI. And not many bowlers in recent times have made their debuts with so much expectation on their back. If cricket fans across the world were waiting with bated breath to watch Mendis at the Asia Cup, this time the pressure is going to be many times more than earlier. [youtube nL9-D-Hp2GI]

The clash has already been billed as the battle between Mendis and the Indian batsmen. Some have cautioned the rest not to forget the great maestro Murali either, and Sachin Tendulkar’s impending landmark - of becoming the highest scorer in Tests - have all been a part of the pre series talk. Somehow, the other two entities, the Indian bowlers - especially of the quicker variety - and the Sri Lankan batsmen have almost been ignored. And it is rather foolhardy to ignore that.

For starters, the matches are going to be played in the months of July and August, the months of rain. One has seen that there have been many occassions when rain has had the last laugh in Sri Lanka. Even if that were to not happen, the moist outfields and sporadic rains may help the swing and seam bowlers than the slower ones. Which is where India may stand to hold an advantage of sorts. Sri Lanka do have Chaminda Vaas, but their problem is with the second new ball bowler. Nuwan Kulasekra has had a reasonable few ODIs and so has Mirando, but one wonders whether they would be able to create any impression.
On the other hand, Indians are well served by the trio of Zaheer Khan, R.P. Singh and Ishant Sharma, two of whom should make it to the playing XI. Zaheer has just returned from injury, but he had a decent outing in the tour game, while Ishant Sharma’s pace and swing - if he can get it to swing at 135 km/hr and above - would hold the Indians in good stead. India’s record in Sri Lanka has been surprising below expectations, having lost more than they have won. And this is despite having a decent battery of spin bowlers. What they have usually lacked is a quality pace attack that can suss out the batsmen on these dead pitches; something that would be of a great advantage to the visitors.
Talking of the Indian batsmen, one of the batsmen that may just want to perform well more than anyone else would be Rahul Dravid. He has played decently well in the previous six months or so in Tests, but has been nowhere as consistent as one is used to. His tour game ended in a couple of low scores, and having been dropped from the ODIs, he would be looking forward to this challenge. Gambhir would be making a comeback as an opener - replacing an out of form Wasim jaffer - and would want to seal his spot for the home series against Australia in October.