Decision given to Shanaka unfair - Gurusinghe

The decision given to Dasun Shanaka of the Sri Lankan team on charges of ball tampering, when Sri Lanka was way behind India on the second day of the second test played in Nagpur, was unfair, said SL team Manager Asanka Gurusinghe.

He said this incident was not planned and Dasun had taken full responsibility and is contrite about the incident. The Match Referee however, fined Dasun Shanaka 75% of his match fee, as he accepted the charge of ball tampering and was also given three demerit points.

Accordingly, the International Cricket Council in a statement said in terms of paragraph 2.2.9 of the Cricket Council Constitution Dasun Shanaka is implicated for having tampered with the ball flouting paragraph 41.3, and has been given three demerit points in addition to his fine.

Playing In India Tough, Admits Ratnayake

If it was the M Vijay and Cheteswar Pujara show on the second day that got India comfortably past Sri Lanka's first-innings total of 205, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma upped it a notch on the third day to give their side a huge advantage.

After Dasun Shanaka got one past Pujara's defences with a perfect yorker for 143 and Dilruwan Perera dismissed Ajinkya Rahane early on Sunday (November 26), the visiting side would have harboured hopes of restricting the lead, but Kohli and Rohit had other plans as they laid into the Sri Lankan attack to help India declare on 610 for 6, 405 runs in front. Sri Lanka then went to stumps on 21 for 1.

Rumesh Ratnayake, the Sri Lanka fast-bowling coach, expressed his disappointment over the bowling performance on the third day but insisted that this was the best attack the side had.

“What we have for the tour is what we have, we have to manage with that,” said Ratnayake after the end of the third day's play. “Not taking that as a huge compliment as a fast-bowling coach, but this is what we have. First and foremost, we have to say that it was a good track and we should have put on more than what we have done (with the bat). India showed us that.

“Having said that, with the past record of Sri Lanka against India, we have done quite well compared to some of the runs they scored in Sri Lanka.”

In the five Tests that the two teams have faced off in this year, Sri Lanka has not been able to pick up 20 wickets even once, the best effort being in the last game in Kolkata where it managed 17.

Ratnayake admitted that this was a major area of concern for his side, but said that it was still essential to encourage the bowlers as much as possible. “It is a concern,” he said. “We need to take 20 wickets, that’s for sure. I am not trying to say that we have the best bowlers, but we have to do things in a way so that we have the best (results).

“We came quite close in the first Test. People then said that it was a green track. In today’s context we have not done well. I would like to still encourage the bowlers saying that they have slowed the process a little bit.”

Buried under a mountain of runs, Sri Lanka then had the worst possible start to its second stint when Sadeera Samarawickrama was bowled off just the second ball of the innings when he left an incoming Ishant Sharma delivery.

Describing the shot as a “poor”, Ratnayake said that the only way forward for the Sri Lankan batsman would be to stay positive. “I thought the decision to leave the ball was poor,” said Ratnayake. “He (Samarawickrama) left the first ball and he perhaps thought the ball was going away. Bad judgement.

“The other two (Dimuth Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne) were trying to be positive. That is what we are trying to do. We are going to play in sessions. We will break sessions into portions and we will try to win that. Playing in India is tough. We have never won a Test match here. That is one of our ambition to win a Test match here. When it will come we don’t know.”

Courtesy:ICC

Virat Kohli Rested For Sri Lanka ODIs, Rohit Sharma Named Skipper In His Place

Virat Kohli, the Indian skipper, has been rested for the ODI series against Sri Lanka, the BCCI announced on Monday (November 27). He will, however, captain the Test side for the third game of the ongoing series against Sri Lanka. India's limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma will take over as captain for the three 50-over games starting from December 10.

Kohli, who had recently spoken about India's workload management, is the only Indian player to have played in excess of 100 matches across international formats since January 2015. Kohli has played 113 matches in the said period while Dhoni, who retired from Test cricket in December 2014, has played 92 matches since.

Hardik Pandya, who was rested for the Sri Lanka Tests, is part of the ODI squad which includes one newcomer in 27-year-old Punjab pacer Siddarth Kaul. Kaul, who recently featured in two one-day games for India A against New Zealand A, bagged a couple of three-wicket hauls and was the joint third-highest wicket-taker in the tri-series in South Africa.

R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja yet again miss out on limited-overs selection with the MSK Prasad-led panel persisting with the trio of Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel. Also missing out from the squad that was selected for the New Zealand ODIs is Shardul Thakur while his Mumbai team-mate Shreyas Iyer finds a place in the team for the 50-over games against Sri Lanka. KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, too, aren't part of the ODI set-up.

Meanwhile, Shikhar Dhawan, who missed the second Test against Sri Lanka in Nagpur owing to personal reasons, returns to the squad for the final Test in Delhi starting on December 2. Dhawan is the only addition to the squad that defeated Sri Lanka by an innings and 239 runs. Uncapped all-rounder Vijay Shankar was retained for the final Test, as was Shami, who had missed the second Test due to a niggle. 

(Cricbuzz)