India’s batting group may be studded with stars but Sri Lanka will not take the opponent’s bowlers lightly at the Oval on Thursday.
“The Indian batting line-up has always put teams under pressure. This bowling line-up is quite different. They're one of the best in the world. You get a good balance of spin and pace, and they're all different to each other, and they’ve got a fantastic bowling attack,” Angelo Mathews said here on Wednesday.
India eyes dominance against wounded Lankans
India’s batting group may be studded with stars but Sri Lanka will not take the opponent’s bowlers lightly at the Oval on Thursday.
“The Indian batting line-up has always put teams under pressure. This bowling line-up is quite different. They're one of the best in the world. You get a good balance of spin and pace, and they're all different to each other, and they’ve got a fantastic bowling attack,” Angelo Mathews said here on Wednesday.
The Sri Lanka captain labelled as ‘pathetic’ his side’s over-rate transgression against South Africa. “It was pathetic. I call it pathetic because the captain was warned several times, and there’s no excuse at all. The whole team is responsible, including the captain. And to feel for the captain, it’s a very hard job on the field, and he has to look into so many things—tactics, bowling changes, field setting. So the rest of the players have to support him. Most of the teams are playing with four seamers and they’ve not had an issue. We played only three. So that has been addressed, and it will not happen again.”
Zoysa's tips for young Sri Lankan bowlers
Sri Lanka would play without any pressure, Mathews felt. “There are no real expectations,” he said. “People will want India to come in and thrash us, and all the pressure is off us. We’ve been in the rebuilding phase for the past one or two years. We bowled and fielded really well in the South African game. It's just that we didn't click as a batting unit.”
Video: India v Sri Lanka in numbers
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