West Indies seeks Sobers inspiration
West Indies will look to Sir Garfield Sobers for inspiration as it aims for a series-saving victory against Sri Lanka in the second Test starting in Colombo on Thursday (October 22).
Sobers, widely regarded as the greatest allrounder ever to have played the game, is in Colombo to watch the second and final Test at the P Sara Oval.
Sri Lanka has not been a happy hunting ground for West Indies since it played its first official Test on the island in 1993. It is yet to win a Test in Sri Lanka in 10 attempts, and suffered an innings defeat in the first Test in Galle last week, where Rangana Herath starred with a match-haul of ten wickets.
Now, West Indies is only above Bangladesh in the ICC Test rankings, while Sri Lanka is one rung above it in seventh place.
Sri Lanka is going through a rebuilding phase after the recent retirements of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. But it was still far too strong in Galle for West Indies, which suffered due to sloppy fielding as well as brittle batting.