Dimuth Karunaratne is looking forward to continue his consistency in India

Sri Lankan opener Dimuth Karunaratne is set to get past 1,000-run mark in the calendar year and is expected to give his team the stability with the bat during the away series in India. The first Test of the series will be played in Kolkata and Karuaratne the third highest run-getter in 2017, behind Hashim Amla, Dean Elgar, needs another 60 runs to complete the thousand runs mark.

Having defeated Pakistan 2-0 in the UAE, becoming the first team to do so, the Lankans will certainly carry some momentum in India. But they will also remember what they were treated with the last time they locked horns in their own backyard along with the no Test win record in India.

“This team has done some remarkable stuff over the years. We won a first-ever Test series in England in 2014 and we ended Pakistan’s unbeaten run in UAE last month. This team is capable of some special stuff. We shouldn’t put any pressure on ourselves. The team that does well on that particular day will win. We will go to the series as underdogs. They whitewashed us at home and they will be under pressure. What we are discussing as a team is to play session by session,” noted Karunaratne, who was Man of the Series when Sri Lanka beat Pakistan.

“We have been doing a lot of fitness work. We focused a lot on playing spin. We trained on under-prepared pitches, but due to rain, our training was limited and we were forced indoors. Training indoors isn’t the ideal preparation. But then, of course, we have eight days in India prior to the first Test and that will come in handy. I haven’t played any international cricket in India. In fact, the last time I played in India was in 2005 with the Under-19 team. So I need to adjust to a few things,” he added.

“What I have been doing is to watch a lot of videos of guys like Alastair Cook, Matt Renshaw and Tom Latham to see what they do and prepare accordingly. I have a fair idea of what to expect, but nothing like going out there and playing,” Karunaratne went on to say.

On his biggest challenge of the tour

Karunaratne feels Ravindra Jadeja poses more threat for left handers than Ravi Ashwin in the upcoming tour, “Generally, the off-spinner poses the biggest threat for a left-hander, but on wickets that turn, the most difficult thing is to play the ball that comes into you. So Jadeja will the bigger challenge for me. I have scoring options against him, but Ashwin is a smart bowler. He rarely bowls a loose delivery,” added the Lankan opener.

Batting average of 45 in 2017

In the inconsistent Sri Lankan team, Karunaratne has been the guiding light this year having notched up three centuries and three fifties this year at an average of 45.

“I have scored a lot of runs in the last two series. Prior to the Pakistan series, I used to score heavily in the second innings. But that wasn’t helping the team. When you score runs in the second innings, you are in survival mode. I wanted to be a match winner. Big knocks in the first innings count. I wanted to do well but at the same time not to put much pressure on myself. A few adjustments have helped me to be consistent in first innings too,” the left-hander added.

“I discussed a lot with our Batting Coach Hashan Thilakaratne. He told me what was expected from an opener: The importance of posting 400 runs in the first innings as a team to get to a safe zone. If we don’t do that, we are in the danger zone,” he concluded.