Off-spinner Ajantha Mendis stormed onto the international stage with a world record haul of 26 wickets in a three-match series against India at home last year.
Off-spinner Ajantha Mendis stormed onto the international stage with a world record haul of 26 wickets in a three-match series against India at home last year.
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Considering that the two teams are locking horns in the longest form of the game for the first time after that series, it came as a surprise that Mendis didn't feature in Sri Lanka's playing XI for the opening Test here.
In-form Herath
Herath has been incredible in Sri Lanka's last two series. While he has picked up 23 wickets in his last four Tests, Mendis has managed just eight scalps.
Sri Lanka manager Brendon Kuruppu admitted it was a tough call.
"It was a very hard decision to leave Ajantha out. We had to decide between three quality spinners as only two could fit in the playing 11. It was not a very easy decision," Kuruppu said.
Indians surprised
Not just the connoisseurs and scarce spectators at the Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium but even the Indian team was slightly taken aback after reading Sri Lanka's team list.
"A little bit," said Rahul Dravid, when asked whether he was surprised with Mendis' exclusion. "He has bowled well against us, there is no doubt about it.
"But Herath, to be fair to him, has bowled well in the last few months. I guess they went on recent form, not just the fact that he has the track record against us. That might change as the series goes on but we have learnt a few things about Mendis as well over the course of last year and a half and I think it should be a good contest," Dravid said.
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