IND vs SL Tests: Former cricketer Farveez Maharoof expresses confidence in Sri Lankan spinners ahead of clash against Team India

Former Sri Lanka fast bowler Farveez Maharoof feels that despite Indiarsquos batting vulnerabilities in facing spinners the Shubman Gillled side enters the upcoming twogame Test series far better prepared than the hostsThe twomatch Test series between India and Sri Lanka kicks off in Galle on Saturday with 24 crucial World Test Championship WTC points on the line for both teams to boost their chances of entering the final in June 2027 India arrive on the back of beating Sri Lanka Cricket XI in a threeday warmup game at the NCC Ground where all squad members got decent bowling and batting timeldquoThe vulnerability of the Indian batting order and the negativity going around with it with losing to South Africa at home especially this is where Sri Lanka can really bounce on if they bring the A game My concern is that some of the players have not played after the West Indies series because of the LPL straight away and then this Test seriesldquoSo maybe some of the bowlers will be slightly undercooked when it comes to the workload I mean they had at least a couple of weeks to get their workload high and train for a while But its nothing like a practice game in my opinion As far as I know Sri Lanka has not played a practice game because of simply no time whereas India just played a threeday gamerdquo Maharoof told IANS in an online interaction facilitated by Sony Sports Network on TuesdayHe also praised the Indian team management for their tactical foresight in reducing the warmup game timing from four to three days ldquoAlso they were smart in not wanting to play the warmup game on the fourth day They wanted to play a threeday game and on the fourth day on the same pitch they went and trained out there simply because they wanted their batters to play against the spinners bowling to the rough which is going to be the challenge come the third or fourth dayldquoIf the Test match goes to the fifth day up in Galle as well as the SSC I think preparationwise Indians are much more equipped than the Sri Lankans if you ask me This is where the edge can be won Also on paper the numbers speak for themselves I think India with the likes of Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja as well as Mohammad Siraj is quite formidable as the leader of the bowling packrdquo stated MaharoofComparing the bowling lineups Maharoof noted that Sri Lankarsquos attack faces multiple uncertainties especially around their secondary spin options after leftarm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya and pacer Asitha FernandoldquoSri Lanka will rely heavily on Asitha Fernando and Prabath Jayasuriya because those two have been consistently playing Test cricket and have been performing well My other concern is second spinner Ramesh Mendis He has not played Test cricket and redball cricket for a whileldquoOnly last week in the justconcluded threeday warmup game he played a redball game So many ifs and buts and only answers will be given come the 15th hopefully the Test match goes for five days till the 19thrdquoDuring Indiarsquos practice game Sri Lanka head coach Gary Kirsten was seen observing the game closely at the ground With Kirsten who coached India to the 2011 ODI World Cup win taking over as Sri Lankarsquos head coach after Sanath Jayasuriya left Maharoof thinks his presence can be a potential gamechanger in the hosts dressing roomldquoGary Kirsten was there for all three days I was in commentary as well and went and spoke to him on a few things So he was there all three days and he is like a handson coach Gary was a coach in India as well I dont have anything to say about his records He has been loved wherever he has coached He has a major good respect towards himldquoThe feedback I am getting from the dressing room is that he has been loved and respected by all players So he will be a massive influence on this side with his experience At the end of the day the coaches can do certain things Rest of it is all about the players going out there and doing their bit because nowadays a head coachs role is like manmanagementrdquo he observedDrawing a parallel with former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri Maharoof emphasised that Kirstens primary role will be fostering the right mindset among Sri Lankas youngsters especially with Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka unavailable due to injuriesldquoLike what Ravi Shastri did when the Indian team was so successful in all formats so a similar role I think Gary will be wanting to play because when it comes to talent there is a lot of talent available in Sri Lanka But just that to get the right players involved and the right mentality playing against a quality side like India thats how you create the environment for the players to go out there and performrdquo he saidOn the high stakes of the series from the WTC cycle perspective Maharoof noted that managing humidity will be a crucial hurdle for the visiting Indian contingent if they are to win both games in Galle and Colombo ldquoSo WTC points I think both sides are very important 24 points up for grabs both sides are quite used to the conditions in the subcontinent But the only thing that India may be just lacking a little bit can be the humidity factorldquoI understand its quite hot in India at the moment and in Bengaluru as well But Sri Lanka especially Galle can be very humid and testing Thats why I think it was a master call by the Indian think tank to play a threeday game get adjusted and used to the humid levels because the heat level is almost similarldquoBut the humidity levels in Sri Lanka are much higher and they got three days of training in Galle So Im pretty sure by the time the first Test match starts theyll be well up for it Its all about at the end of the day we can speak a lot but by the end of the day its just one ball against one batter You got to keep it really simple and trust the processrdquo he concludedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever