Visitors decide to leave out Mendis

They might have arrived in India with an eye on creating history,but after a high-scoring draw at Ahmedabad and an...

They might have arrived in India with an eye on creating history,but after a high-scoring draw at Ahmedabad and an innings defeat in Kanpur; Sri Lanka are left with one final chance to win their first Test on Indian soil. And Kumar Sangakkara & Co will go all out going into the third Test at the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai.

Though Chaminda Vaass exit from international cricket did create a huge vacuum in Sri Lankas fast bowling department,Nuwan Kulasekara and Thilan Thushara had provided a glimmer of hope with their performances over the last 12 months. But while Thushara sustained a shoulder injury and had to fly back home before the series even started,his right-arm partner too was ruled out of the first Test. With Chanaka Welegedara making the most of his last-minute opportunity at Motera,and Angelo Mathews in the side as an all-rounder,Kulasekara had to sit out in Kanpur as the Lankans decided to bolster their spin department.

But after Sri Lankas misadventure with the three-spinner strategy,Sangakkara insisted that it will be a toss-up between the 27-year-old Kulasekara and the more experienced Dilhara Fernando in Mumbai. Most of his bowling plans have come a cropper against the mighty Indian batting line-up so far and this will be the last throw of the dice for the Lankan skipper.

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We will definitely be going in with three pacers,which means Ajantha (Mendis) will not find a place. Nuwan is certainly better quality-wise,but Dilhara has more experience on his side and also an extra yard of pace, said Sangakkara,who is yet to fire with the bat.

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni too believed that a back-up seamer added an edge to any bowling attack,but said that spinners might come into play at the Brabourne. In India,the game changes quickly,especially on the fourth and fifth days and spinners come into play a lot. At the same time if you are playing three seamers you can get the top three or four batsmen out very quickly and gain an upper hand early, said Dhoni,for whom the only change to the XI will be Murali Vijay at the top of the order.

Kulasekara might not have made a very impressive start to his international career,but the lithe right-arm fast bowler has experienced a resurgence of sorts recently. With 65 wickets at less than 25 apiece over the last two seasons,Kulasekara has climbed to the top of the bowlers rankings. And his figures in the longer format too have been constantly improving. He proved to be the wrecker-in-chief against Pakistan recently,picking up 17 wickets at 15.05,as Sri Lanka recorded their first home-series win against Younis Khans men.

Visiting teams have often ended up finding heroes during the last match of a Test series in India in the recent past,whether it was Australias Jason Krezja with his 12-wicket match haul in Nagpur,or James Anderson who bowled England to a famous win at the Wankhede Stadium. And if he does get the nod,Kulasekara,who is still without a five-wicket haul,could well end up as Lankas chief protagonist as they look to correct their unsavoury Test record in India.