Murali revels on Mendis debut

Over the course of this decade, India have built up an impressive collection of overseas victories. With the exception of New Zealand, where they lost two closely contested matches just before the 2003 World Cup, they have won at least one game in every other Test-playing country. This marked improvement away from home should logically have taken them to the top of the Test tree. After all, during the course of the 1990s, and especially during the Azharuddin-Wadekar years, they had been almost invincible in home conditions.

That veneer of impregnability has long since been stripped away. South Africa started the process in 2000, and England, New Zealand and South Africa have all escaped unscathed since. Australia went one better, winning a series in 2004.

As Indian batsmen and bowlers have prospered in more lively conditions overseas, they appear to have forgotten traditional strengths. These days, it's Sri Lanka that play like India once did, piling up big totals with patient but attractive batting before unleashing the spinners on a wearing track.

The same Indian bowlers who could topple Australia at Perth look ineffectual on subcontinental surfaces. It's no secret that the only non-Asian team to win in Sri Lanka since England in 2001 [Australia in 2004] did so with the help of tremendously disciplined seam bowling that supplemented the genius of Shane Warne. Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz weren't furiously quick, but they seldom gave the batsmen the freedom to play their strokes.

Varying their pace and using cutters cleverly, the two were instrumental in a 3-0 triumph. Neither Zaheer Khan nor Ishant Sharma could replicate their feats at the SSC, while Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble made next to no impact on the Sri Lankan batsmen.

Conceding 600 in an innings is not the best way to go about saving a Test match, but there was still little in the pitch to worry the Indian batsmen  when they emerged to bat in mid-afternoon. They started well enough too, until Virender Sehwag momentarily forgot that he and Gautam Gambhir were playing a Test match for India, and not an IPL game  for the Delhi Daredevils.

The rest were little better. Rahul Dravid isn't the first to be befuddled by Ajantha Mendis's carrom ball, and he certainly won't be the last. His first spell in Test cricket fetched Mendis that wicket at a cost of 58 runs, and though he didn't do a Narendra Hirwani on debut, he created enough doubt in the batsmen's minds to make them want to get down the other end.

The only problem was that the bowler at the other end was Muttiah Muralitharan, who came into the game with 735 wickets from 120 matches. With the batsmen trying so hard to demystify Mendis, some of them appeared to forget about the threat that Murali posed. Gautam Gambhir and Sourav Ganguly fell to deliveries that spun sharply after pitching on or outside leg stump, while Dinesh Karthik did his plummeting stock no good at all with a heave across the line that fell safely into Murali's hands off the leading edge.

The prize wicket though, as it has so often been when India have played over the past two decades, was that of Sachin Tendulkar. He alone had shown a modicum of comfort in dealing with Mendis, and there had been one gorgeous off-drive off Murali too as he came to the crease showing real intent.

Murali's solution was to go round the wicket, and make Tendulkar wonder if he needed to play or not. Perhaps Tendulkar spotted the doosra out of the hand, but by the time he decided to leave it, it was too late. As the ball slanted away from him, it caught the inside edge of the withdrawing bat and dropped on to the stumps. Tendulkar's grimace as he walked off past the celebrating Sri Lankans said it all. The first round in this tussle between two cricketing giants had gone Murali's way, and barring a bucketful of rain or infinitely more resolute batting, the game should as well.

Comments

[Pete]

Australia aren't the only non-Asian team to win in Sri-Lanka in the last decade - England won 2-1 there in 2001.

[Y Guru]

Today though it was short-lived, i think people need to appreciate the brilliant tactician that Sachin is. I'm happy that Sachin atleast did try to be positive. It augurs well for the rest of the series. I would be interested in seeing how Laxman deals with the spinners tomorrow.

[Nik]

Just winning a single match in each country overseas doesnt make you the top test team in the world. i think india is overrated. They havent won a test series since last november when they beat pakistan.

[Homer]

still some ways to go - both in this match and this series..

What are the odds that Sri Lanka WONT enforce the follow on, eat valuable time in trying to set a target and hand India the "Get out of jail" card?

Cheers,

[Pritam Sinha]

Murali just reminded all of us that he still is around with no less magic amid the hype surrounding Medis. Perhaps Ajantha rejuvenated the killer in him and Indians were the sufferers.
India have batted more purposefully second time around usually so let's hope that Peter Uppton has ingrained enough mental resolve in his short tenure that this Test won't be lost on the 4th day.
PS : In the article, on para 4, it should be Australia instead of India, I feel.