Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene has revealed that he was shocked to see that Monty Panesar had been dropped for the second Test.
The spinner was omitted by Andy Flower in favour of seamer Tim Bresnan for the match in Columbo.
England must win to avoid defeat and level the two-match series having lost in Galle.
"Monty is always a match winner on a wicket that will turn a bit," Jayawardene told BBC Sport.
"We anticipated that [decision] as well. They probably had to take a few gambles but Monty is a wicket-taker.
"I thought they also had concerns about the batting going with six batsman, five bowlers. They needed a bit of back-up as Samit [Patel] and [Tim] Bresnan both can bat, so that was a combination they felt they were comfortable with."
Jayawardene scored 105 in his innings and Sri Lanka will resume play on 236-6.
Written by
Michael Penkman
Michael Penkman
