Australia vs Sri Lanka 2019: Tim Paine, Justin Langer Warn Oz of Not Repeating Old Mistakes

The Australia captain, Tim Paine and the head coach, Justin Langer have warned the hosts of not repeating the old mistakes, when they take on Sri Lanka in the second Test at the Manuka Oval, Canberra. In the two-match Tests, the hosts had won the first game by an innings and 40 runs. In their quest to grab their first Test series win in over 12 months, Paine says there is no room for complacency. Meanwhile, the Canberra Test will begin on Friday (February 1st).

Put SL on the backfoot straightaway – Paine

Australia, during the India Tests, levelled the four-match series in Perth; while they lost the third Test at the MCG to surrender the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Now, with Australia having a familiar situation in front of them, both Tim Paine and Langer made sure they don’t fall prey to the same result again.

“We touched on how we had a great win in Perth against India. I thought we turned up pretty poorly and really flat in Melbourne and started that Test match pretty ordinarily, and then you get a good side like India in front of you and we couldn’t reel them back in.” Paine said.

The wicketkeeper-batsman, speaking to the media ahead of the second Test said the management has chalked down the plans. He added putting pressure on Sri Lanka straightaway is necessary if they seek a series win. Furthermore, he noted attitude playing a crucial role would be a key element heading into the game.

“We’ve spoken a little bit about our attitude and the way we turn up firstly for our two training sessions here and then tomorrow morning,” the skipper added.

“It’s just been making sure our attitude to this Test is spot on and we’re leaving nothing to chance. If we do that, start as well as we can tomorrow and put Sri Lanka straight back on the back foot where we finished in Brisbane. That’s been the message.”

Here are the squads of both the teams –

Australia – Tim Paine (c/wk), Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Kurtis Patterson, Will Pucovski, Jhye Richardson, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis

Sri Lanka – Dinesh Chandimal (c), Dimuth Karunaratne, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dhananjaya de Silva, Roshen Silva, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Kusal Perera, Dilruwan Perera, Lakshan Sandakan, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Lahiru Kumara, Dushmantha Chameera, Kasun Rajitha