5 players to look out for in the England-Sri Lanka Test series

Dimuth Karunaratne

One of the keys to success in England is to have a solid opening batsman who sets a platform under difficult conditions and doesn't leave the side struggling with the loss of a few early wickets. In Dimuth Karunaratne, Sri Lanka have exactly that type of player.

While the 28-year-old may be flashy and elegant as many left-handers are, in Kaushal Silva, he has a solid batsman, who is incredibly effective at blunting the new ball attack, which is exactly what the visitors will want him to do. The fact that he is coming off a good scoring run in the domestic circuit is an added bonus.

That good form was evident as he scored a comfortable century against Leicestershire. If Sri Lanka are to have any chance of repeating their heroics of their last trip to England, they will need their openers to provide them with solid starts.