Test Cricket Tours Sri Lanka to Pakistan 1995-96

Test Cricket Tours - Sri Lanka to Pakistan 1995-96

Tour of Pakistan 1995-96                 Captain: Arjuna Ranatunga

© Test Cricket Tours

Sri Lanka’s 17th Test tour
(August - October 1995)

Fourth Test-playing tour of Pakistan by Sri Lanka
(previous tour in 1991-92)

Adding two more overseas Test match victories to the important win in New Zealand in March, Sri Lanka now won another Test series abroad by beating Pakistan for the first time. Sri Lanka also won the one-day series, so gaining the first double success achieved by any country in Pakistan since West Indies did so in the 1980-81 Test and one-day series.
The national President, Mrs Kumaratunga, sent a message of congratulations to the team for its magnificent and historic victories.
Aravinda de Silva did not join the team until mid-September after completing his season in the English county championship with Kent, and he missed the first Test. Finding it difficult adjusting to the conditions, he recovered from scoring a duck by grafting out a Test century (105) in the second innings at Faisalabad. The Sri Lankan strength lay in the dependability of batsmen such as Tillekeratne and Hathurasinghe.
Dav Whatmore was appointed Sri Lankan coach in April 1995, and oversaw a brilliant series victory. Within a year had also helped bring them victory in the World Cup.

Other Sri Lankan Tours

Previous tour
To New Zealand 1994-95

Next tour
To Australia 1995-96

Next tour to Pakistan
1998-99

Members of the Test tour party (15 + 1)

Opening batsmen: Roshan Mahanama, Duleep Samaraweera, Chandika Hathurusinghe
Middle-order batsmen: Aravinda de Silva, Asoka Gurusinha, Sanath Jayasuriya, Arjuna Ranatunga, Sanjeewa Ranatunga, Hashan Tillekeratne
Wicket-keeper: Chamara Dunusinghe
Spin bowlers: Muttiah Muralitharan, Jayantha Silva, Kumar Dharmasena
Fast Bowlers: Pramodya Wickramasinghe, Ravindra Pushpakumara, Chaminda Vaas.

P A de Silva
NCC
29
RHB
ODI

C I Dunusinghe
Ant
24
WK

A P Gurusinha
SSC
28
LHB
ODI

U C Hathurusinghe
T U
27
RHB opener

S T Jayasuriya
Bf'd
26
LHB opener   SLA
ODI

R S Mahanama
Bf'd
29
RHB opener vice-captain
ODI

A M N Munasinghe w/d
SSC
23
RFM

M Muralitharan
T U
23
OB
ODI

K R Pushpakumara
NCC
20
RFM
ODI

A Ranatunga
SSC
31
LHB captain
ODI

S Ranatunga
NCC
26
LHB

D P Samaraweera
Ct
23
RHB opener

K J Silva
Bf'd
22
SLA

H P Tillekeratne
NCC
28
LHB   reserve WK
ODI

C U Vaas
Ct
21
LFM
ODI

G P Wickramasinghe
SSC
24
RFM
ODI

The following appeared only in the Wills
Ruwan Kalpage
ODI
one- day international series
Roshan Kaluwitharana
ODI

Eric Upashantha
ODI

Average age of team at time of first Test match
(8 September 1995) :
       25 yrs 5 months.

Representation of clubs :
Ant: Antonians (1)
B'fd: Bloomfield (4)
Ct: Colts Cricket Club (2)
NCC: Nondescripts (4)
SSC: Sinhalese Sports Club (3)
TU: Tamil Union (2)

Key to type :
LHB left-hand bat,
LBG leg break and googly bowler,
OB off break,
SLA slow left-arm bowler,
RFM right arm fast medium bowler

ODI:In squad to participate in the one-day Wills series.

Test Appearances made before the tour

Arjuna Ranatunga 56, Aravinda de Silva 48, Gurusinha 33, Mahanama 32, Tillekeratne 30, Hathurusinghe 18, Muralitharan 18, Wickremasinghe 17, Jayasuriya 16, Samaraweera 7, Dharmasena 6, Sanjeeva Ranatunga 6, Vaas 6, Pushpakumara 5, Dunusinghe 2, Silva 0.

Tour Officials

Duleep Mendis
Manager
Dav Whatmore
Coach
Don Kiesel
Physiotherapist

Duleep Mendis was appointed Manager on 4 August 1995.

Selectors

Duleep Mendis (chairman), Roy Dias, Ranjan Madugalle, Sidath Wettimuny, T B Kehelgamuwa

Selection

Unavailable: none
Tour Party Announced : 14 August 1995.
Not selected : Ruwan Kalpage
Stand-bys: R S Kalpage (Bfd), R S Kaluwitharana (Galle), M S Atapattu (SSC), K Dharmasena (Bfd), P B Dassanayake (Bfd), MC Mendis (Colts), Sanjeewa Warusamana (left-handed batsman, NCC), KEA Upashantha (Colts).

Withdrawal : Pace bowler Manjula Munasinghe (SSC) failed a fitness test on his back injury. It was expected that Eric Upashantha would take his place but medium-pace spinner Kumar Dharmasena was brought in to cover for Jayantha Silva

Time between selection and departure from Sri Lanka
13 days
(14 August to 27 August)

Travel
Colombo Q Karachi

Githanjan Mendis and his team at the Sports Ministry Medicine Unit prepared the fitness of the team.
The team left on the Sunday evening flight for Karachi on 27 August 1995 and arrived at midnight. Next day they practised at the Defence Stadium.
Kumar Dharmasena flew to Karachi to reinforce the team on 31 August.
Aravinda de Silva missed the First Test and did not join the team until 13 September after completing his participation in the English county championship with Kent. He flew to Karachi and took a connecting flight to Faisalabad
Kaluwitharana, Upashantha and Kalpage joined the squad during the third Test to acclimatise for the ODI series.

Time spent in Pakistan
   38 days
(28 August - 5 October)

On-tour selection panel

Arjuna Ranatunga, Aravinda de Silva, Dav Whatmore, Duleep Mendis.

Reinforcements (1)

H D P K Dharmasena
Bfd
24
OB
ODI

Kumar Dharmasena was called up because Jayantha Silva twisted an ankle and was out of consideration to play but was not sent home.
Ruwan Kalpage, Roshan Kaluwitharana and Eric Upashantha were flown in for the ODI series.

Fixtures/Results

a
Karachi
Pakistan Board XI
Drawn
b
Rawalpindi
P.C.B. Patron's XI
Lost inns 6 r
c
PESHAWAR
PAKISTAN First Test
LOST inns 40 r
d
FAISALABAD
PAKISTAN Second Test
WON 42 r
e
SIALKOT
PAKISTAN Third Test
WON 144 r
f
§ Gujranwala
Pakistan (1st ODI)
Lost 9 w
g
§ Faisalabad
Pakistan (2nd ODI)
Won 49 r
h
§ Rawalpindi
Pakistan (3rd ODI)
Won 4 w

† not first-class
§ one-day international

Time spent in Pakistan before First Test:
   11 days
(28 August - 8 September)

Test appearances on tour

3 - Dunusinghe, Gurusinha, Hathurusinghe, Mahanama, Muralitharan, Arjuna Ranatunga, Tillekeratne, Vaas, Wickremasinghe
2 - Aravinda de Silva, Dharmasena.
1 - Pushpakumara, Sanjeeva Ranatunga.
0 - Jayasuriya, Samaraweera, Silva.

Match appearances

T Test match
o one-day international
x other match
⊕ T/20 international
-   teams not announced

W won L lost D drawn T tie
N no result   A abandoned
u unknown result C cancelled

a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
P A de Silva

T
T
o
o
o
K Dharmasena

x

T
T
o
o
o
C I Dunusinghe
x
x
T
T
T

A P Gurusinha
x

T
T
T
o
o
o
C Hathurusinghe
x
x
T
T
T

S T Jayasuriya
x
x

o
o
o
R Kaluwitharana

o
o
o
R S Kalpage

o

o
R S Mahanama
x

T
T
T
o
o
o
M Muralitharan
x
x
T
T
T

o

R Pushpakumara
x
x
T

o

A Ranatunga

x
T
T
T
o
o
o
S Ranatunga
x
x
T

D Samaraweera

x

K J Silva
x

H Tillekeratne
x
x
T
T
T
o
o
o
E A Upashantha

o
CU Vaas

x
T
T
T

o

P Wickramasinghe
x

T
T
T
o
o
o
   R E S U L T S
D
L
L
W
W
L
W
W

Highlights

• The team squared the series by winning at Faisalabad - the second overseas Test victory for Sri Lanka
• By winning at Sialkot, too, the Sri Lankans became the first side to beat Pakistan at home for sixteen series since 1980-81.
• Only three times before had a team turned round a defeat in the first Test to win a three match series: Sri Lanka joined England in 1888, South Africa against New Zealand in 1994-95 and Pakistan against Zimbabwe in 1994-95 as the sides that had done so.
•

Tour Summary

F
W
L
D
Aban
Test Matches
3
2
1
0
-
Other first-class matches
2
0
1
1
-
ϯ Minor matches
0
-
-
-
-
§ One-day internationals
3
2
1
0
-
All Matches
8
4
3
1
-

F Fixtures   W Won   L Lost   D Drawn   T Tied Canc Cancelled Aban abandoned

Return to Sri Lanka
Karachi Q Colombo

Jayantha Silva had a leg injury and returned home earlier, with Duleep Samaraweera, on Sunday 24 September. Dunusinghe flew home immediately after the third Test and did not play in the one-day internationals.
At the end of the tour Aravinda de Silva and Wickramasinghe flew to Bahrain to play for a World XI against Pakistan. Ranatunga joined them immediately after the celebrations in Colombo.
The team flew from Karachi Airport via Bombay on 5 October 1995, arriving home at 6 am next morning. They were driven through the streets of Colombo in triumph to meet the President.
On 10 October the Sri Lankans flew out again to play in the Champions Trophy in Sharjah.

.

Time away from Sri Lanka
40 days
(27 August to 6 October)

Postscript

Other Test tours in 1995-96

Australians to
England to

© 2015

Acknowledgements
To general reading of The Times newspaper digital archive (Gale Group); Jamaica Gleanor archive; National Library of Australia Trove; Papers Past NZ.
From former British Newspaper Library, Colindale and online: The Age, Melbourne Argus, Bangladesh Daily Star, Barbados Advocate, Canberra Times, Daily Telegraph, Dawn, Eastern Daily Press, The Hindu, The Independent (Dhaka), Indian Express, The Island (Lanka), Lahore Times, New Nation, New Zealand Auckland Herald, Sri Lanka Daily News, Stabroek News, Straits Times, Sydney Morning Herald, The Telegraph (Calcutta), Times of India , The Tribune Chandigarh, Trinidad Guardian, The West Australian.
cricketweb.net; ESPN cricinfo; cricket archive; www.cricketcountry; www.coverpoint
Magazines/periodicals including Australian Cricket, B & H West Indies Annual, The Cricketer International, Cricketer Quarterly, Indian Cricket, Indian Cricket Field Annual, Playfair Cricket Monthly, Shell Cricket Almanack of New Zealand, Wisden Cricket Monthly, Wisden Book of Test Cricket, Wisden’s Cricketers’ Almanack.
Men In White, A History of Australian Cricket (Harte), A History of Indian Cricket (Bose), A History of West Indies Cricket (Manley)
Biography and tour books (own collection and at the M.C.C. Library at Lord’s Ground)                                    © ALL CONTENTS OF THE TEST-CRICKET-TOURS.CO.UK WEBSITE ARE COPYRIGHT