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Sri Lanka can cope without Dilshan, says Murali
Former Sri Lanka spin ace Muttiah Muralitharan is confident that there is enough leadership and talent in the Sri Lankan camp for them to hit back in the third Test against England, despite the absence of skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan, ‘cricket365.com’ reported on its website, Wednesday.
Sri Lanka fought back and held out for a draw in the second Test at Lord’s and head to the Rose Bowl in Southampton with their hopes of levelling the three-match series still very much alive. They are likely, however, to be without Dilshan after he suffered a hairline fracture to his thumb during his heroic knock of 193 at Lord’s.
Muralitharan - presently playing for Gloucestershire in the FriendsLife T20 competition - is under no illusions that the skipper’s attacking batting approach will be missed, but he reckons that leadership will not be a problem for Sri Lanka, with former skipper Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara in the side.
"They will miss Dilshan as a batsman, but they also have other experienced captains in the squad - so they can handle that," the record-breaking off-spinner was quoted as having said.
The opening void left by Dilshan’s absence will not be filled by Upul Tharanga - who was not part of the original Test squad - after the left-hander was ruled out of further international action until after an investigation into his failed drugs test at the World Cup.
That leaves the uncapped pair of 21-year-olds, Lahiru Thirimanne and Dinesh Chandimal as the candidates to replace Dilshan at the top of the Sri Lankan order.
"The other players can take a chance," added Muralitharan.
"It gives another opener an opportunity so they can grab it - that is the way to look at it.
"We have played well. We just had one collapse, which meant they lost first Test, but otherwise, they have been doing pretty well.
"Of course, you do miss senior players a bit. But you cannot say that without Dilshan Sri Lanka will lose a match. There will be other players who can replace him."
Apart from the day five nightmare collapse at Cardiff, Sri Lanka’s batting has been resolute, with their real worry being an inexperienced and ineffective bowling attack.
"The bowling is a little bit weak, but I still think they will manage it and they will get the experience when players get their chance," added the 39-year old.
"They are capable bowlers. Definitely they can do the job.
"We are not doing very well but are a very young team, inexperienced - so it will take some time to develop the team and is what the coach wants to do.
"Once that moment comes, we will start winning," Muralitharan concluded.
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