India in SL

Former Indian batsman Sanjay Manjrekar hopes the Sri Lanka will dish out better tracks than absolute belters for the Test series.

"I pray that the new Sri Lanka cricket board led by none other that Arjuna Ranatunga, who as a cricketer never played safe, produces pitches for the two teams to show their true flair in the forthcoming Test series," Manjrekar noted writing for his column.

The technically solid middle order batsman said the flat and slow wickets in Sri Lanka have been very disappointing in recent times, drawing the crowds away from Test cricket.

"The pitches in the last five years or so have become flatter and slower, forcing the spectators to stay away from stadiums. But the authorities have not made any attempt to give their home seam bowlers and spinners any advantage at all. Sri Lanka plays it safe as far as its pitches are concerned," he wrote.