In the lead up to the first Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, all the talk revolved around how Misbah-ul-Haq's men would counter the threat of their arch-nemesis Rangana Herath.
But as the two teams prepare to battle it out at the P. Sara Oval on Thursday, the limelight is on another spinner, Pakistan's Yasir Shah, who by now has become the ‘leggie of the hour’ with praise coming in from all corners.
Yasir claimed seven second innings wickets in a spectacular display of leg-spin bowling as Pakistan crushed Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in the first Test to go 1-0 up in the three-match series at Galle on Sunday.
Yasir, who had picked up two wickets in the first innings, took a career-best 7-76 in the second before Pakistan chased down the 90-run victory target in a little over 11 overs to register their first Test win in Sri Lanka since 2006.
And now just as all of Pakistan's ‘home work’ was focussed on neutralising Herath, Sri Lanka too have only one man on their minds.
Sri Lanka opener Kaushal Silva, who scored a brilliant 125 in the first innings of the Galle Test, said his team had a formula to unsettle Yasir.
“I think when you have a good bowler, you have to put pressure on him to receive loose balls,” Silva said.
“As batsmen, we have to put him under pressure, because if we play the same way, he'll keep putting the ball in that same spot. If he does that, it's difficult to play the strokes we want.
“If we use our feet, we should be able to get singles and twos, and the odd four. We've got to rotate the strike. If we do that, he can't settle down and bowl at one batsman.”
Silva, who made his Test debut against Pakistan in 2011, said Yasir's accuracy and subtle change in pace had made scoring against him a tough prospect.
“We have to wrestle the bad balls from him.”
“His accuracy is excellent, and the other thing is that he bowls quite quickly. He's usually in the 85-90kph range, which is faster than most spinners. He does use variations but he also uses speed well. He bowls his legbreak fast often, and slow sometimes - the googly is the same. He does use the flipper often as well.”
The sporting Oval pitch, regarded as the finest in Sri Lanka, has produced a winner in eight successive Tests since 2005, and another decisive result is on the cards.
It will make for an intriguing contest as the hosts attempt to pin Pakistan's striker.
Pakistan, who lost by seven wickets when they played at the Oval in 2009, will bank on their impressive showing in the first Test to deal another blow to Sri Lanka. They will now have to do it against a wounded Herath who will be looking to play a much more incisive role after being upstaged by Yasir.
