One of the challenges the duo of Kuldeep and Arun will have to overcome is the Sri Lanka batsmen's strategy to keep sweeping the spinners. Kuldeep recognises the challenge, but also sees an opportunity in it. "[Kusal] Mendis and [Dimuth] Karunaratne batted very well in the last Test, they played the sweep very well," he said. "It is difficult for spinners if the batsmen are playing the sweep so effectively. It becomes easy for the batsmen and tougher for the spinner, so my plan is to try and control that shot. But playing the sweep also means a lot of chances, so if you plan even a little bit, it can get you wickets."
Three days out, there seemed to be some grass on the Pallekele surface. Three days is a long time for the grass to survive in Asia, but even if it were to, it won't faze Kuldeep. "For me, the wicket doesn't matter," he said. "I don't see the wicket at all. In childhood, I used to bowl on cement wickets and there can be no better wickets [for batting] than cement wickets. On grassy wickets, some balls can bounce and some can skid through. So there is still some advantage even if there is no turn."
Kuldeep knows how rare chances for spinners are in a squad that has the No. 1 and No. 3 bowlers in the world. He is mindful he will have to make the most of it. "You cannot walk into the team so easily, and you have to wait; that's the rule of cricket," he said. "It is good that I have worked with them [R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja], and I have been in the team with them for last six-seven months. So I have got to learn a lot from them, especially playing Test cricket with them. You gain experience like this and it helps in the future. I try to stay with them mostly and keep talking to them; they help me a lot."