The pitch at Colombo’s Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) is known for either offering batting paradises or sharp turners. But the surface prepared for the ongoing second Test between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh has left both teams surprised due to its unusual and inconsistent bounce.
Kandamby: “It’s a Two-Paced Wicket”
Sri Lanka batting coach Thilina Kandamby, who has years of experience playing domestic cricket at SSC, admitted that this current pitch is unlike anything he has seen before.
“𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒂 𝒕𝒘𝒐-𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒕 𝒖𝒔𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆,” 𝑲𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒖𝒏𝒖𝒔𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒕 𝑺𝑺𝑪 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 15 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒕𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕. 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒊𝒕.”
Shadman Islam Battles Hard for Bangladesh
Bangladesh opener Shadman Islam, who top-scored with 46 off 93 balls on day one, also noted how challenging it was to score on the slow, sticky surface. He was one of four top-order batters who got out while trying to force the pace with aggressive shots.
“𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒘,” 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒅𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒔. 𝑾𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒔 [𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕] 𝒊𝒏 𝑮𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚, 𝒎𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚.”
Target Score Set at 270–280
Having spent the most time at the crease, Shadman believes a first-innings total around 270 or 280 could be a competitive score for Bangladesh. They closed day one at 220 for 8, and Shadman is optimistic that the bowlers could extract enough from the pitch to challenge Sri Lanka’s batters.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 270–280 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅.
Sri Lanka Adjusts Tactics After Pitch Inspection
Initially planning to play three seamers, Sri Lanka’s team management had a change of plans after inspecting the pitch on match day. Kandamby confirmed the pitch was not what they expected, prompting a strategic reshuffle.
“𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝑮𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆,” 𝑲𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈-𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝑮𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑩𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒉 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒘𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒐𝒖𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒅.”
“𝑾𝒆’𝒅 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅. “𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆, 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒖𝒏𝒖𝒔𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝑺𝑺𝑪 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒌.”
Also Read: San Francisco Unicorns Cruise Into Playoffs with Sixth Win