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GALLE, Sri Lanka (AP) Sri Lanka contested the World Cup final until March. This opportunity has fueled its desire to get there in a new cycle.
The campaign begins on Sunday when Sri Lanka take on Pakistan in Galle in the first of two Tests.
We had a pretty good campaign in the last World Cup test competition and at one stage we had a chance to reach the final, Sri Lankan skipper Dimuth Karunaratne said. We would have liked to finish things better, but our last series in New Zealand didn’t go our way. But this is a new opportunity and we look forward to the challenge.
Ravichandran Ashwin has enjoyed the West Indies curtains on a swing-rich pitch, powering India to victory with an innings and 141 runs within three days of the first Test in Dominica.
England fast bowler Ollie Robinson has declared himself available for the fourth Ashes Test despite sustaining an injury in the teams win against Australia in the third match of the series last week.
Newcomer Yashasvi Jaiswal and captain Rohit Sharma scored centuries to take India to a 162-run lead against the West Indies on the second day of the first Test in Dominica.
Ravichandran Ashwin hit his 33rd five-wicket haul in Tests and a piece of history as India beat West Indies by 150 on day one of the first cricket Test.
Left-arm quick Shaheen Afridi returns to Pakistan after a year out with a knee injury and the visitors will be pinning their hopes on him.
When these teams met at the same ground last year, Afridi took four wickets in the first innings but suffered a serious right knee ligament injury while playing in the second innings. He aggravated the injuries months later in the T20 World Cup. Pakistan still won the first Test but lost the second. They mirror the same series this year.
Very happy with the return of Shaheen Afridi, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam said. In addition to his walking ability, his presence always motivates and lifts the page. I know Shaheen has been missing red ball cricket badly and is hungry for Test cricket.
Shaheen has 99 Test wickets and becomes the fourth-fastest Pakistani to score a hundred quickly.
Sri Lanka need the services of seam bowler Asitha Fernando, who is recovering from dengue fever.
Kasun Rajitha and Vishwa Fernando are expected to share the new ball, although they have loose left-arm quick Dilshan Madushanka in the squad, who was very impressive in the Asia Cup last year when Virat Kohli was among his faults.
Sri Lanka’s key weapon is left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya, who has an enviable record in Galle of 46 wickets from five Tests, including six five-mark hauls.
Both teams have agreed with Pakistan and the squad includes 13 players who were in Sri Lanka 12 months ago.
Tourists also expect fortunes to rise during the series. Since the start of 2022, Pakistan have won just one out of ten Tests. Nevertheless, it is ranked sixth in the world, one place higher than Sri Lanka.
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