India continued its dominance over a listless Sri Lankan team and are now poised for another win, which will help them jump in the ICC rankings. A victory is always welcome but looking at the next series against traditional rivals Pakistan and that too in the wintry conditions there, it would have served Indian cricket better if the Lankans had challenged them a bit more. To be sure, the limited Sri Lankan attack has exposed more than a chink or two in the Indian batting but then their own batting was devoid of any application or determination or flair that is normally their strength.
True the pitch was not great but then how can any curator prepare a good pitch with just a couple of weeks notice as Ahmedabad got to stage the Test match.
Dravid’s absence was once again felt as the Indian batting lurked around before some robust batting from the two southpaws, Yuvraj Singh and Irfan Pathan gave it respectability. Neither Sehwag nor Laxman can blame the pitch for their dismissals. Gambhir applied himself, as befits a batsman who knows his time is up but his bad form continued and he did not inspire confidence at all. Tendulkar played for the turn that wasn’t there, as did Kaif and at that stage Sri Lankan’s greatest bowler Muralitharan had nothing to show for his efforts, where earlier in the day, one of his like, Harbhajan Singh had scalped seven victims. Of course both bowlers are different in their approach to their tasks and Harbhajan showed more willingness to entice the batsman with flight than Murali did. The latter also didn’t seem to be fully fit, but even then was always a threat even if Yuvraj and Dhoni went after him deliberately.
The slinger Malinga poses his own problems for the batsmen but definitely has a greater heart than Dilhara Fernando who was preferred in the earlier two Tests. Even with that slinging action, Malinga gets the ball to reverse swing back into the right-hander and that makes it even more difficult for the batsmen. The other bowlers were pretty ordinary but then apart from Murali and Vaas, Sri Lanka have struggled to find bowlers who can turn matches around for them. In the batting too, there’s been resistance from the skipper Atapattu and elegant strokes from Jayawardene, who got a nasty first-baller in his game but apart from that, there’s been nobody whose method or approach would calm the nerves in the dressing room. Truth to tell, this Lankan outfit is little better than a ‘Popatwadi Eleven’.
India will be pleased with the manner in which Yuvraj has come back after getting a duck in the first innings and also with the progress made with the bat by Irfan Pathan. With Dhoni too batting refreshingly and Agarkar, Kumble and Harbhajan also capable of contributing as was seen in the second innings, India has depth in its batting now and can look to playing with an extra bowler in order to get 20 wickets on the better pitches that they will encounter in Pakistan. The top order, which has looked wobbly will also appreciate pitches where the bounce is true and the ball comes on to the bat.
Technically, Sri Lanka are still in the contest but their body language suggests that they would rather be back home than out here playing a Test match and if they continue to show the same lack of thought, then their wishes may come true a day sooner than so officially scheduled.
