Murali eyeing victory in his final tour abroad

Sri Lankan spin-legend Muttiah Muralitharan said Saturday he would like to complete his possibly last assignment abroad by beating India in their den, which his team has never done before.

The three-Test series between India and Sri Lanka will start on Monday here.

"I have played enough cricket over the years. This could be my last tour overseas. Sri Lanka has not won a Test series in India, so it would be great if my team won the series this time," Muralitharan, the highest wicket taker in the world told reporters here.

The legendary off-spinner's comments indicate that sooner than later he would announce his retirement from international cricket.

Muralitharan said the Sri Lankan team is gradually developing into a solid unit with new youngsters.

"There are good seamers and spinners like Ajantha Mendis who have improved in bowling since his debut," Muralitharan who has 783 Test wickets said.

Muralitharan also gave a thumbs up to the umpire referral systems saying it is good use of technology and harms neither bowling nor the batting side.

Talking about the advent of the T20 format of the game, Muralitharan said the Indian Premier League (IPL) has proved beneficial for the youngsters but they must not focus just on the slam bang version.

"One cannot play only T20. A player has to play the one-dayers, Tests and domestic cricket. Otherwise he will be finished, and his cricket will go down," Muralitharan said.

He said that Twenty20 version of the game may have proved stepping stone for many youngsters to show their talent, but its scope is limited.

The spin-wizard said playing for the nation surely motivates the players but the financial well being is also a concern for them.

"If he (player) says that it only for the game that he plays and not for the financial benefits he gains from it then he is lying. Every player plays for the love of game, the nation, and also for the financial benefits that come along with it," he said.

Tillakaratne Dilshan recovers, keeper's slot undecided

Sri Lankan batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan has recovered from the ankle sprain he suffered at practice and will resume training on the eve of the first Test against India in Ahmedabad starting on November 16. The captain Kumar Sangakkara also confirmed that one of Prasanna Jayawardene and Kaushal Silva will keep wicket, meaning that Dilshan will play as a specialist batsman.

The Sri Lankans go into the Ahmedabad Test without match practice, after their only three-day warm-up game in Mumbai was washed out.

"Dilshan has recovered from the minor injury he had due to accident at the warm-up," Sangakkara said. "He is fine now and batting well. We will have to see how well he does tomorrow.

"Prasanna has been doing great with the gloves. Kaushal is on a maiden Test tour but has been scoring a good amount of runs for the A side and in domestic cricket. One of them is going to get the first game."

Dilshan kept wicket and batted in the middle order in the three Tests against Pakistan at home during August, stepping in for the injured Jayawardene, which allowed Sri Lanka to accommodate allrounder Angelo Mathews, who chipped in as the third seamer. However, Jayawardene returned for the two Tests against New Zealand that followed and Dilshan was promoted to open the innings. Sri Lanka have four wicketkeepers in the squad, including the captain himself.

That flexibility, Sangakkara said, was Sri Lanka's strength and it extended to all departments of the game. "The guys are relaxed and enjoying themselves as the pressure is not on us. We do have a balanced side this time and have options of playing various combinations of fast bowlers and spinners giving us more flexibility.

"We have got a mix of youth and experience, a good variation of pace and spin plus over seven or eight batsmen. And all of them have been doing well in their own disciplines. We are looking forward for them to go into the first Test and enjoy themselves, play good hard cricket and hopefully come out on top."

Sangakkara said he was pleased with the composition of the five-member pace attack, including Mathews. "We have fast bowlers like Dammika Prasad and Thilan Thushara who are bowling at the speed of 145-plus kph," he said. "Then we have Nuwan Kulasekara at 130 and Chanaka Welegedara who can hit 140 as well. Speed does not really matter unless it is accompanied with accuracy."

Sreesanth and Zaheer Khan recalled for Tests

Temperamental fast bowler Sreesanth has been given another chance to resurrect his stop-start career, after being selected in India's 15-man squad for the first two Tests against Sri Lanka. Weeks after being given a "final warning" for his poor on-field behaviour, Sreesanth is now a candidate to share the new ball with Zaheer Khan, who has recovered from his shoulder injury.

Sreesanth last played for India in 2008, and had his share of injuries and criticism over attitude in equal measure. During the time he spent out of the Indian team, Sreesanth played 10 first-class games for 28 wickets, including one five-wicket haul for Warwickshire, and 23 overs for no wickets against Andhra in his latest Ranji Trophy match. Clearly his selection is a gamble on promise over form. It is a big - bordering on generous - decision made by the selectors, and an equally big chance for Sreesanth to wash away all the criticism against him.

Zaheer made an expected comeback, having recovered from the injury he sustained during the IPL, and having featured in Twenty20 matches during the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament and a Ranji Trophy fixture. He has not missed a Test, but has not played limited-overs cricket for India since the ICC World Twenty20 in June.

The selectors also recalled Pragyan Ojha, the left-arm spinner, and S Badrinath. His Tamil Nadu team-mate M Vijay retained his place as reserve batsman. Ojha, yet to make his Test debut, toured Sri Lanka in 2008, but lost his place to Amit Mishra, who made a strong debut against Australia in Mohali in 2008-09. Vijay, an opener, was handed a debut in Nagpur against Australia after Gautam Gambhir was banned for one Test. Badrinath has yet to play a Test.

There was no place for Ashish Nehra, who has done well after making his ODI return, or Munaf Patel, as India opted for three spinners. There was no reserve wicketkeeper named.

The decision to pick 15 players, and that too an extra batsman, raised questions about the selection. Usually for a home series, only 14 players are picked. And with the middle order set in stone, neither Vijay nor Badrinath has a realistic chance of starting in Ahmedabad. Now both of them will miss important Ranji Trophy matches, when only one was needed as injury cover, unless someone is sent back to domestic cricket on the morning of the Ahmedabad Test.

The selection also left the bowling unbalanced. MS Dhoni is not a fan of playing only two pace bowlers unless the pitch is extremely spin-friendly, and the selectors have given him only three fast bowlers to choose from. Zaheer Khan is coming back from injury, Ishant Sharma is in poor form, and Sreesanth is a completely unpredictable character. One bowling back-up would have been of more value than two batting back-ups. And what about Munaf? He has lost his Test place on the basis of 13 overs bowled in two ODIs against Australia, one of them on a flat Hyderabad pitch.

India squad: MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, M Vijay, S Badrinath, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth, Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra.

Kumar Sangakkara leads the Sri Lankan contingent out of the airport in Mumbai

The Sri Lankan cricket team arrived in Mumbai on Sunday afternoon with the captain Kumar Sangakkara promising their best in an attempt to conquer "the last frontier". Sri Lanka have yet to win a Test in India in 14 attempts but Sangakkara backed them to break a winless, 27-year streak.

"We know we are good enough to win and match India if we really wanted to, " he told Cricinfo before departing from Colombo. "We've just got to be tough as possibly as we can both mentally and physically if we are going to do well.

"We can go as all our teams have done in the past and come back and say well it's still unchanged or we go out there and give everything we got and win the last frontier for us in India and then take confidence from that and move onto the one-day series."

Sri Lanka's last Test series in India ended in another loss - they were drubbed 6-1 in the one-day leg - and before the 2007 World Cup Sri Lanka were beaten 2-1 in a four-game ODI series.

This series, from November 8 to December 27, begins with a three-day warm-up game against the Board President's XI at Mumbai's Bandra-Kurla Complex before the first Test in Ahmedabad, starting November 16. The second Test will be in Kanpur before the teams head back to Mumbai for the third game. The city's regular venue, the Wankhede Stadium, is currently being renovated for the 2011 World Cup.