India wrapped up the match in double-quick time to give Sri Lankan players the chance to catch an early flight home. Sri Lanka’s record in India continues to be poor as they still haven’t won a single Test match in India. Not that they had much of a chance after the manner in which their selectors treated a senior player like Sanath Jayasuriya and left out bowlers who could have troubled the Indian batsmen.
Anil Kumble had watched Harbhajan Singh corner all the glory in the first innings and quite clearly did not want to be left out of the party and that too in his 100th Test. On a fourth innings’ pitch it is never easy to play him and the Lankans apart from Jayawardene and Dilshan had no clue how to play him. He was relentless as he attacked and probed at the flat-footed Sri Lankan batsmen. Since taking five wickets in an innings is considered equivalent of scoring a century, Kumble has joined the rare company of those who have achieved that feat. Harbhajan also got himself in the bowlers by recording a 10-wicket haul in the match and though it’s unfair to compare the batting strengths of the two teams, he did look the better off-spinner with more variety on offer than the celebrated Sri Lankan great.
The seamers, Pathan and Agarkar had limited opportunities on such a pitch but got the crucial wickets of Jayawardene and Dilshan and opened up the gates for the spinners to cash in. While those two were at the crease, Sri Lanka might have fancied their chances of giving more of a fight to the Indians. The Indians however knew that both batsmen are good for 50s and 60s but not big hundreds and so wouldn’t have been too worried at that partnership. They might have even secretly enjoyed it for it gave them the chance to try out the non-regular bowlers like the skipper Sehwag himself and Tendulkar. Though they didn’t get wickets, it’s always good to have them bowl a few for it does relax the batsmen’s focus and works as soon as the regular bowlers are brought on again.
Rahul Dravid, who came from hospital, would have been pleased with the way the team has performed as just about everybody has contributed his bit to the series victory. The worry will be about the opening slot for Sehwag’s lack of runs and Gambhir’s lack of application does not send good signals as India take on Pakistan whose strength is new-ball bowlers. Their failure was made glaring by the absence of Dravid who invariably comes in and douses the fire and so helps ease the nerves in the dressing room. The best sight really was to see the Indian captain in the dressing room, for his health was more of a concern than the fighting ability or the lack of it, of the Sri Lankan team. Well done India!
