After a humiliating defeat in the first Test against Sri Lanka, the Indian cricketers didn't have much of a breathing space and reached the coastal town of Galle for the second Test. Sri Lanka's statistics here certainly won't please them. Sri Lanka have played 12 matches here, won six and lost only two with four games ending in draws.

And whenever Sri Lanka have won here, they have won big. Three of those six wins were by an innings while two were by ten wickets and the other by 315 runs.

When India last played here, they crashed to a ten wicket defeat and they need to do a lot of soul searching ahead of the second Test where the conditions will heavily favour the locals.

This will be the second Test held at the reconstructed Galle Stadium after the December 26th tsunami destroyed the ground and it's a foregone conclusion that the wicket here will help spin bowling from day one. When Sri Lanka played England here last year, they had them on the ropes before the tourists escaped with a draw thanks to rain.

After declaring on 499 for eight, with captain Mahela Jayawardene making an unbeaten double hundred, England were bowled out to their lowest total against Sri Lanka as Chaminda Vaas picked up four wickets and following on, were 251 for six when rain washed off play.

Over the years, the Galle wicket has favoured spin bowling from day one and it's expected to be no different this time around. With Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis mesmerizing the Indians claiming 19 of the 20 wickets to fall, the Indians will be wary of the two spinners and how they will overcome the threat posed by them will be interesting to see.

Muralitharan requires nine more wickets to complete 100 Test wickets at this ground and having already taken over 100 wickets in Sri Lanka's other two regular Test venues, Asgiriya International Cricket Stadium and SSC, he'll be keen to reach the milestone this time.

For Jayawardene too Galle is a happy hunting ground and his average here is Bradmansque. In 12 Tests, Jayawardene has scored over 1300 runs here with two hundreds and two double hundreds. He averages 99:21 at Galle.

Sri Lanka's selectors have named fast bowler Dhammika Prasad in the squad for the second Test.