GALLE: Rusty Pakistan and overworked Sri Lanka are set for an enthralling contest when they open a two-Test series here on Wednesday, the last for the retiring Mahela Jayawardene.

The former Sri Lankan captain, whose elegant batting has seen him rise to sixth place in the all-time scorers’ list with 11,671 runs in 147 Tests, is due to quit the longer format after the series.

But rival captains Misbah-ul-Haq of Pakistan and Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews will look to put aside the emotions of a farewell series as they find themselves battling contrasting worries.

While Pakistan may be under-prepared for their first Test series since January, Mathews said his team were ‘drained mentally and physically’ due to a surfeit of international cricket.

Sri Lanka have been on the road since the start of the year, touring the United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh and England for Test and limited-overs cricket before last month’s home series against South Africa.

Mathews rued the absence of a cooling-off period as he announced on Tuesday that seamer Suranga Lakmal would miss the series due to an ankle injury sustained against South Africa.

ASAD Shafiq catches the ball during a practice session on Tuesday.—AFP

“Pakistan have had a good rest whereas we have been playing continuous cricket,” the Sri Lankan captain said. “It’s always good to get some rest to refresh your minds and bodies.

“That is the challenge we are facing as players. When you are playing constantly, you get drained mentally and physically. But the challenge for us is to try and be consistent.

“It works both ways. They [Pakistan] can be a bit rusty, but you never know. They are very unpredictable. They come out all guns blazing. They are a very formidable team when it comes to Tests.”

Pakistan fought back to play out a 1-1 draw in their last Test series against Sri Lanka in the UAE in January, but have not won a series since beating England in 2012.

Misbah said his team would target the retiring Jayawardene in the two matches since he could be the danger man for Sri Lanka.

“He is one of the best batsmen in the world. We don’t want him to score runs, because if he gets runs it will be difficult for us to raise our game, “he said. “We will be really focusing on that and try our best to get him out early.”

Jayawardene, 37, who retired from T20 Internationals after Sri Lanka’s title-winning campaign in the World Twenty20 in April, still hopes to compete in next year’s one-day World Cup Down Under.

But he will be remembered most for his exploits in Test cricket, where he averages a commendable 50.09 — with a monumental 374 against South Africa in 2006, the best of his 34 centuries.

Jayawardene starts the two-Test series against Pakistan just six runs ahead of his close friend and long-time team-mate Kumar Sangakkara’s tally of 11,665 runs as Sri Lanka’s leading Test batsman.

Thoughtful Sri Lankan cricket officials picked Jayawardene’s two favourite venues, the Galle International Stadium and the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) in Colombo, for what will almost certainly be an emotional farewell.

Jayawardene’s 2,297 runs in 22 Tests in Galle and 2,863 runs in 26 matches at the SSC — which replaced the originally chosen P. Sara Oval for his final appearance — are the most by any batsman at a single ground.

Mahela Jayawardene (L) and team-mates undergo warm up exercises.—AFP

Spin is expected to dominate, with Pakistan boasting the prolific Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman, and the hosts banking on the trusted duo of Rangana Herath and Dilruwan Perera.

The tourists will fancy their chances at Galle where they are only one of four countries to beat the hosts at their favourite hunting ground.

However, Pakistan’s solitary win was achieved quite some time ago in 2000 when Waqar and Wasim Akram ran riot with the new ball. Since then Pakistan has lost their last two Tests played at Galle by 50 runs in 2009 and by 209 runs in 2012.

The last Test series between the two countries played in January ended in a one-all draw with Pakistan squaring the series in the third and final Test at Sharjah with an astonishing run chase scoring 302 in 57.3 overs to win by five wickets.

Teams (from):

SRI LANKA: Upul Tharanga, Kaushal Silva, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Lahiru Thirimanne, Angelo Mathews (captain), Kithuruwan Vithanage, Niroshan Dickwella, Rangana Herath, Dilruwan Perera, Shaminda Eranga, Chanaka Welegedara, Dhammika Prasad, Nuwan Pradeep.

PAKISTAN: Ahmed Shehzad, Khurram Manzoor, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed, Abdur Rehman, Mohammad Talha, Saeed Ajmal, Junaid Khan, Rahat Ali, Wahab Riaz, Shan Masood, Umar Akmal.

Umpires: Ian Gould (England) and Bruce Oxenford (Australia).

TV umpire: Richard Illingworth (England).

Match referee: Andy Pycroft (Zimbabwe).

Published in Dawn, Aug 6th, 2014