India has not won a series in Sri Lanka for fifteen years and with two days to go in this final Test, that record looks safe. This match has been like the previous two, full of highlights with the balance of power switching sides at will.
Bad luck is sometimes hard to define but for periods in this game India has had Sharma unable to bowl and Tendulkar seriously handicapped with the bat. Laxman too is not fully fit. Nobble three of your best players and any side may struggle. Mind you India’s fielding hasn’t been all that flash which is more bad cricket than bad luck.
The state of play after three days is that India will have to make some serious runs just to draw this match and thus level the series. Half their team is out and with the Sri Lankan spin twins – the old and the new – in frightening form, it doesn’t bode well for the tourists.
What more can be said about Muralitharan? He is the world’s highest wicket-taker in Test matches and still continues to bamboozle even the best batsmen. To tailenders he is unplayable. But the strangest of scenarios is unfolding. The great Sri Lankan slow bowler is almost being upstaged by another Sri Lankan spinner. BAW Mendis has only just arrived on the world stage but has made such an impression that commentators are checking their dictionaries for new superlatives. And what’s even more impressive is that for a tailender, Mendis can bat a bit. For all of Murali’s stunning success as a bowler, he is a very ordinary number 11. Mendis though can wield the willow. His innings of 17 included two boundaries in a partnership of 29 for the ninth wicket.
But what about India? They have a powerful group of batsmen who have played for years and enjoyed some outstanding success. Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly and Laxman are as imposing a quartet as you could find. Throw in Sehwag and that’s one heck of a batting line-up. But if India lose this series, and the odds are definitely on Sri Lanka’s side, then will one or more of the great Indian batsmen be shown the door? Hardly Sehwag as he has been a shining light in this series. But what about the others? All careers must end at some stage and the question will be asked in India if not around the cricketing globe. Is it time for a fresh middle-order Indian blood?
And Sri Lanka’s new bowling stocks were further highlighted in this match by Dammika Prasad. Alongside Vaas, Prasad is a baby. Vaas has carried the pace attack for the locals for many years. Now as he and Muralitharan enter their cricketing twilight years, along comes Prasad and Mendis. Prasad has knocked over the cream of India’s batting and then showed what a genuine allrounder he is with a well made 36 including 5 fours. He may not need to bat in Sri Lanka’s second innings.
Zaheer Khan has done very well in this Test. His batting helped give respectability to India’s score and his three wickets reinforced his claim to be one of India’s most consistent wicket-takers. But he and his teammates will need to do something special if they are to survive in Colombo.
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