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India take on Sri Lanka in a three-test series starting Wednesday, in what should be an hard-fought and closely contested series.

First Test:
Wednesday 23 - Sunday 27 July - Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo

Second Test:
Thursday 31 July - Monday 4th August - Galle International Stadium

Third Test:
Friday 8th - Tuesday 12th August - P Saravanamuttu Stadium, Colombo

Mendis under the microscope

Muttiah Muralitharan has struck fear into the hearts of batsmen worldwide over the past decade, and batsmen all over the world will have been marking down the days until the off-spinner’s retirement. However, they will face a similarly tough challenge over the coming years, in the form of mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis.

Mendis is one of the most unorthodox bowlers to grace the international stage in recent times, and outshone his more illustrious counterpart during the Asia Cup, where the world sat up and took note of his abilities, where he produced a match-winning spell of 6/13 against India in the final. His sheer variety of deliveries, coupled with impressive control, forced the Indian batsmen into resorting to mere survival tactics. He came on in the tenth over of the game with India getting off to a flyer, chasing a relatively low total on a flat pitch in Karachi. He promptly bamboozled Virender Sehwag, triggering a collapse during a spell where the Indians

The way in which the Sri Lankan dismantled the much-vaunted Indian line-up has led to the pre-match spotlight being firmly on the 23 year old, and justifiably so. We feel that he is the real deal and go on to great successes, and the fact that the Indian ODI side is almost totally different to the test side will no doubt be a huge advantage, as the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid will have to learn on their feet, although it should be noted that Sourav Ganguly captained Mendis for a short while during the IPL.

Mendis is priced at a tempting 12.0 to be man of the match in the first test, and the price looks too big in comparison to the likes of Muralitharan, who is available at 6.0. We’re prepared to have a small punt on Mendis here, although this is a highly competitive field.

Battle for supremacy

India certainly have the better reputation but Sri Lanka are arguably more of a team unit, with India relying more on individual brilliance than collective excellence.

Keeping in mind that wholesale changes have been made to the Indian side since the Asia Cup, there is a real danger that they come into the test series under-cooked, as shown during their warm-up game, where the batsmen struggled to 196/8 dec. in their first innings. However, it should also be noted that Dilhara Fernando, Farveez Maharoof and Lasith Malinga are all in the treatment room, and the hosts will also be without the talismanic Sanath Jayasuriya (retired from tests), who saved them with some brutal hitting during the Asia Cup final.

With regards to the first test, the SSC is somewhat of a fortress for Sri Lanka, with 15 wins and just six losses in 30 tests at the ground. However, in 26 tests between the two sides, Sri Lanka have won just three matches, and with their batting over-relying on Jayawardene and Sangakkarra, it’s tough to back them with any confidence. Likewise can be said of India, who failed to inspire confidence with the bat against a third-rate Sri Lankan bowling line-up.

This brings us to the draw, which is a generally available 1.8 with most bookies. With thunderstorms forecast for the next five days, the draw is understandably short but this has the potential to be a low-scoring series, and we’d advise backing the draw at such short odds. Conversely, the draw looks to be a decent lay if there is a price crash on the first day, especially if it trades sub 1.4.

Overall, there are plenty of reasons to avoid having a pre-match punt in the 1x2 market, so we’re happy to sit back and observe the first test, and keep our powder dry for now.

NJ’s Bets:

Ajantha Mendis to be Man of the Match - 1pt @ 12.0 (Bet365)