We'll have to come up with something special: Rangana Herath

Galle: Sri Lanka’s stand-in captain Rangana Herath says his team will have to come up with “something special” to have a chance against world No.1 India in the three-match Test series starting here on Wednesday.

“We chased 380-odd in our last Test. But India and Zimbabwe are different teams, and we are playing international cricket so that confidence should help the boys. They are the no.1 team at the moment and are playing very good cricket. So this is an interesting and challenging tour for us. We need to do something special,” said Herath.

“We need to look for home advantage. But at the same time, we’ll have to look at different abilities of both teams. We select the team on that basis. So far, we have played with more spinners but we’re playing against the world’s number one team. So we have a responsibility (to judge the situation accordingly),” he added, when asked about his side’s balance between pace and spin options.

The hosts will be missing newly-appointed regular Test skipper Dinesh Chandimal who has been laid low with pneumonia. Dhananjaya de Silva has been drafted into the squad in his place.

“It’s a big loss for us. As a captain or as a player, Dinesh Chandimal gives his 100 percent to the team. We miss him but I am sure he will come back for either the second Test or in the third Test,” said Sri Lanka skipper Herath.