GALLE: Pakistan’s woes against left-arm spin are well documented now but captain Misbah-ul-Haq said on Tuesday his team may have finally found an answer to their arch-nemesis Rangana Herath’s mystery as his side prepared to take on Sri Lanka in the first Test here.

The opening fixture of the three-match on Wednesday at the spin-friendly conditions at the Galle International Stadium gives Herath all the confidence he needs against his favourite side.

The two sides have already played six series in as many years, the last of which also took place on the island a year ago. The hosts won both Tests, leaving Pakistan without a win in Sri Lanka since 2006.

Misbah, who turned 41 last month, hopes to rectify that record and build on a commendable 2-0 win over Australia in the United Arab Emirates last year, followed by a 1-0 triumph in Bangl­adesh this May.

“We have an answer for Hearth this time as everybody is working hard on how to defend him,” Misbah told a media conference. “In the past we really played him well except in the last series in Sri Lanka…sometimes bowler takes the edge, or sometimes batsman.

“But we are looking on a plan on how to handle him and how we should apply ourselves against him. We only struggled because he got a good hold of the conditions and it’s important for us to play him well to get a better result. The more we play him well, more we have a chance to do better against them,” the Pakistan skipper said of the 37-year-old left-arm spinner.

Herath has picked up 88 wickets in only 17 matches against Pakistan, making him the third most successful bowler against the team. He needs only three more wickets to surpass Shane Warne, and only 12 more wickets to become the first bowler in the world to pick up 100 wickets in Tests against Pakistan.

Misbah said though the two teams were well aware of each other’s stren­gths and weaknesses now, Pakistan would leave any baggage at the door.

“It is always interesting to play Sri Lanka because both sides know each other’s game well,” said Misbah. “Pakistan has done well in Tests recently and that has given us a lot of confidence.

“Our ultimate goal is to win and improve our performances and I have best players with me to achieve the target.”

Meanwhile, the legendary Kumar Sangakkara will get a chance to build on his prolific Test record before retirement.

The 37-year-old former captain has not responded to media speculation that he will play three more home Tests – the first two against Pakistan and one versus India in August – before ending a glittering 15-year-career.

The left-hander is head and shoulders above other current Test batsmen despite rising Australian Steve Smith upstaging the former Sri Lanka skipper at the top of the ICC rankings for Test batting list on Monday.

Sangakkara’s 12,203 runs and 38 centuries far exceed second-placed Alastair Cook of England, who has 9,000 runs and 27 hundreds.

Sangakkara is unlikely to catch up with Indian record-holder Sachin Tendulkar’s Test tally of 15,921 runs and 51 hundreds, but his 11 scores of 200- plus are just one short of Australian

legend Don Bradman’s record of 12.

In Sri Lanka’s previous Test, against New Zealand in Wellington in January, Sangakkara hammered 203 to continue a prolific streak that saw him make 221 against Pakistan in Galle and 319 against Bangladesh last year.

The opening match at the Galle International Stadium will be followed by the second Test at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo from June 25 and the third in Pallekele from July 3.

The Tests will be followed by five One-day Interna­tionals and two Twenty20 matches.

Teams (from):

SRI LANKA: Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva, Kumar Sangakkara, Lahiru Thirimanne, Angelo Mathews (captain), Dinesh Chandimal, Kithuruwan Vithanage, Jehan Mubarak, Kusal Perera, Rangana Herath, Dilruwan Perera, Tharindu Kaushal, Nuwan Pradeep, Dhammika Prasad, Dushmantha Chameera, Suranga Lakmal.

PAKISTAN: Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Sarfraz Ahmed, Yasir Shah, Zulfiqar Babar, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Imran Khan, Ehsan Adil, Shan Masood.

Umpires: Richard Illingworth (England) and Paul Reiffel (Australia).

TV umpire: Chris Gaffaney (New Zealand).

Match referee: Chris Broad (England).

Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2015

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