Chief selector Upul Tharanga says that leg spinner Jeffrey Vandersay may stand an accidental of being selected as the second or third spinner to play in the second and final Test against New Zealand starting at Galle tomorrow (26).
Vandersay’s sole Test appearance for his country was also at the same venue against Australia two years ago, which Sri Lanka lost by 10-wickets and since then he has only been tried in smaller formats with considerable success.
But, the chief selector said the final decision on Vandersay’s presence will only be taken after considering the state of the pitch and the team composition on the first morning.
“We may think of tinkering with the XI,” Tharanga told ‘The Daily Morning Sports’. “But, this is not confirmed as we need to assess the pitch conditions and the final composition of the team. There are also reports which have been received that Ramesh (Mendis) has been somewhat struggling and in that case we will need to see whether we should go with three spinners Prabath, Jefferey Vandersay and Nishan Peries, by dropping a pace bowler.”
Mendis, a right-arm off spinner returned match figures of 6 for 184 in the opening Test and has so far demanded 69 wickets in 15 matches in his career.
Sri Lanka have drafted in uncapped 27-year-old off spinner Peiris from St. Peter’s College, Negombo in place of wounded fast bowler Vishwa Fernando to the squad.
Tharanga, a former Sri Lanka white-ball captain added that before finalising the team for this week’s Test, the selectors along with interim coach Sanath Jayasuriya will have discussions on appropriate combinations to press home the 1-0 series advantage against the tourists.
“If at all there are going to be any changes, it will occur in the bowling department and we see no reason to alter the batting line up as by and large it is settled right now.”
The selection panel head described the first Test win as a collective effort by Dhananjaya de Silva’s men where both batters and bowlers had contributed in equal amount to its 63-run victory last Sunday (22).
He also saw no reason for the home team to take its foot off the pedal and be complacent heading into the second Test.
He highlighted that if they could maintain similar intensity it would not be beyond them to break through for their first red-ball series triumph against the Black Caps since 2009.
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