Sri Lanka turn up the pressure

Spin twin: Ajantha Mendis leads Sri Lanka's bowling attack alongside world record holder Muttiah Muralitharan

13 April 2012

India have been warned to expect a "spinner's pitch" for the Second Test starting in Galle tomorrow as they aim to recover from their humiliating innings and 239 runs defeat in the series opener.

Sri Lanka spin twins, world record holder Muttiah Muralitharan and newcomer Ajantha Mendis created huge problems for the Indian batsmen in the series opener in Colombo, claiming 19 wickets between them.

Galle ground manager Jayanda Warnaweera, a former Sri Lanka spinner himself, said: "Sri Lanka have the spinners, so this will be a spinner's pitch. It should help the seamers early on but it will start spinning a lot by day three."

Only four of the 24 wickets that fell in the last Test played at Galle - the draw with England in December - were taken by spinners.

India opener Gautam Gambhir insists they remain positive.

"We had a bad Test but now we are positive. Yes, they have a quality spin attack but we also have guys who can play spin well."