by Sumit Srivastava
Before the start of the first Test match, Kumar Sangkkara said that they believed that the Indian team might crumble under pressure. But after the second Test match, one feels now that it was Sri Lanka that could not rise up to the occasion and crumbled under pressure.
Both the tracks, in Ahmedabad and in Kanpur, had very little difference but the latter was a bit more on the slower side and just did enough to produce a result. Both the tracks didn’t deteriorate as much as the players or the captains had thought. It was some very good bowling by India and a pathetic display of batting by Sri Lanka in both the innings in Kanpur which caused their down fall in the second test.
In the couple of Tests, Sri Lanka would have also known what Virender Sehwag means to this Indian side and how important it is to send him back as early as possible. If Sehwag is not enough, then at the other end India has Gautam Gambhir who has been prolific in the last twelve months. If in Ahmedabad, Gambhir saved the Test for India then here he, along with Sehwag and Rahul Dravid, scripted the Indian victory.
It would be very heartening for MS Dhoni to see that both the changes made by him played important roles in the team victory. The ouster of Ishant Sharma gave a chance to Sreesanth to revive his career and he made full use of it by making a dream come back into the side. He bowled within himself at the start and as the match progressed he literally made the ball talk. Pragyan Ojha too had a very good outing as he checked the scoring rate from one end and chipped in with some good wickets too.
Zaheer Khan is getting fitter and better with each passing day and he may not have a number of wickets to show for it but it does not lessen his good work. It was quite refreshing to see Harbhajan Singh tossing the ball up, bowling a lot slower and getting involved in a few classical off spinner’s dismissals. He looked in good rhythm and constantly bowled in good areas, for which he was rightly rewarded too.
Barring the first innings of the first Test match, all the Indian batsmen have been amongst runs and with two destroyers, Sehwag and Yuvraj, surrounded with the classical touches of Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar in the line up, India strikes the right balance for Test cricket.
The Sri Lankan batting looks a lot dependent on Mahela Jayawardhne and Kumar Sangakkara. Tillekeratne Dilshan is very much like Virender Sehwag, who can give some cracking starts but you one never expect him to be very consistent because of the way he plays. Sangkkara has to take the onus on his shoulders as Sri Lanka cannot afford to give his wicket away after getting a start.
Against India, after the Asia cup final last year, the mystery spin of Ajanta Mendis have not worked for Sri Lanka and that should cause serious problems to the Sri Lankan camp. But the biggest worry for Sri Lanka would be the form of Muttiah Muralitharan. In the two Tests, he never looked menacing. His characteristic flight is missing and he has hardly beaten the bat. Rangana Herath, despite of taking a fifer in the second test, has not looked to trouble the Indians much. And with spinners being the main weapon for the Sri Lankans, the failure of the spinners should certainly spread some panic in the Sri Lankan dressing room.
Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai will be completely different from Motera, Ahmedabad and Green Park, Kanpur because of the red soil used there and one can expect both, the pace bowlers and spinners coming into play a lot early in the third test. At Mumbai, it will be interesting to see if Sri Lanka still looks at the three spinner theory or not.
Right now, on the way to becoming the number one Test team in the ICC Test rankings, India has got a settled look and they are unlikely to make any changes in their ranks, apart from Gautam Gambhir who will miss the Test. But Sri Lanka has to do some serious brain exercise in order to get the right combination in both, batting and bowling, departments otherwise to end the twenty-seven years’ win drought on the Indian soil, would be a far-fetched dream for Sangakkara and company.
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Sangakkara Magnanimous For Tendulkar
