26 July,2010 07:32 AM IST | | Trevor Chesterfield
Sri Lanka are one-up, but the absence of Murali and Malinga will be hard to cope with. As for India, trying to shrug off the galle rout will be a tough challenge
India's ranking as the top Test nation sits on a knife edge from today as the second game in the series with Sri Lanka starts at the Sinhalese Sports Club. Overlooking the Gautam Gambhir injury for the moment, the laconic way India's captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni views it, he is not "wedded" to being number one. It is a nice position, but it is not everything. It is the sort of laid back approach you expect from a man who has more "been there done that" T-shirts than you can count on your average daily laundry list.
Gambhir has picked up a knee injury and while Dhoni declined to elaborate if the Delhi opener would miss the second Test of the series, he did acknowledge there was some concern. It would mean Rahul Dravid possibly opening and Dhoni batting at three. It could also be a toss-up whether they want the right-handed Murali Vijay to fill in for Gambhir or finally give a debutant cap to left-handed, 23-year-old Suresh Raina, who can fill in at three.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0
Already there are problems for both sides in what has been a hastily arranged tour. Retirements and injuries have taken their toll with Sri Lanka's pace ace, the laser-sharp Lasith Malinga watching from the comfort of a pavilion seat, resting a swollen right knee, further denuding the attack of bristling pace and aggression. Insiders suggest he was over-bowled at Galle and this is the result.
What it means is how, after the scenes of emotional farewells with bands and pomp and 21 gun salutes in Galle, it is back to reality for India and hosts Sri Lanka face a harsher truth.u00a0 After 18 years of shouldering the attack, there is no Muttiah Muralitharan to taunt, tease and offer a smile the way he does with beguiling charm. The sort that would tame a cobra as he so often did.
With Malinga also gone, there is a certain cutting-edge problem with the attack. Despite the Ajantha Mendis threat, the fact is, this is a Test and not a practice game and Kumar Sangakkara knows that his weakened bowling attack could be under pressure from Virender Sehwag, who dearly loves to cut loose.
Dhoni's remarks of India needing to concentrate on the basics and forget what happened in the last Test also reads like a script from coach Gary Kirsten's book on winning habits. It is amazing how these to think alike. But that is a good thing too. It also shows they are working off the same page.
As an example, when asked about his views of Malinga missing from the Sri Lanka attack would make a difference, he offered the perceptive, "It is not about whom you are missing,u00a0 what matter is who is filling in the gap for him (Malinga) and who will be doing the job."
There was more caution when it came to assessing someone like Mendis. There are players in the side who have played him before and know his abilities and variation.
"You know as an individual what are his strength and weakness," Dhoni said. "For me, it will be an interesting face-off between our batsmen and their bowlers. We have one of the best batting line-ups, so they will want to prove themselves against him this time."
He pointed out the two years ago, when Mendis collected 26 wickets in the series, most of India's batsmen could not read all his deliveries, and the result is that he played a major role in winning that series. Since then he has toured India and didn't do so well.
"But this is his home turf, so I think it will be a nice face-off between our batsmen and Mendis. A good challenge," he added.u00a0u00a0
The pitch for the Test has a good covering of grass, very much what it normally is, the grass is perhaps a little dry, but there will be better bounce and good carry as well.
