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Up 2-1, India will look to seal the series

S. Ram Mahesh

The visitors know if they are to wrap it up, they will have to do it the hard way

Raina’s assurance against spin has been a positive
Jayawardene has been Lanka’s most successful batsman

— PHOTO: AFP

SPEARHEAD: India’s resurgence in the series was powered by the bowlers; Zaheer Khan (in picture), Praveen Kumar, and Munaf Patel have expertly exploited Sri Lanka’s apparent weakness against seam bowling.

Colombo: We return to the Premadasa, that theatre of dreams, on Tuesday, to see if India, renewed and invigorated, can seal the five-match series — a position of affairs ventured only by fantasists after the first ODI last Monday.

India’s return from the dead, which in this case pertains to the eight-wicket mauling in Dambulla, to take a 2-1 lead into the fourth ODI has been stirring. Having lost Sachin Tendulkar before the one-day leg and Virender Sehwag on the eve of the series-opener, M.S. Dhoni was confronted with a task befitting his resourcefulness.

That the side has made it thus far — to a position of contemplating a rare win in a land, which for all its cordiality is wretchedly difficult to successfully tour, and this with Friday’s game in reserve — is thanks to a combination of the general and the particular.

Case for counter-attack

Dhoni’s men have fast earned a reputation of not playing reputations. This quality was threatened by Ajantha Mendis, but through will and skill, the spin maven was countered in the second and third ODIs.

“If he bowls a bad ball you need to punish him,” said Dhoni, whose 76 glued India’s batting together in the third ODI. “Only then will pressure build on him. Until now he wasn’t under pressure, so he has bowling at his best.”

Although Mendis has already in his brief career shown he can handle pressure, he has also shown a tendency to further flatten his carom ball when attacked. This trajectory invariably results in a shortening of length. The under-spin on the delivery holds it up a touch, giving the right-handed batsman — if he is sufficiently fearless — the extra split second to lean back and crash it through the off-side. Sehwag, who employed a similar tactic in the Galle Test, reckoned he had enough time to pick his spot (not exclusively on the off-side) whenever he provoked this reaction from Mendis.

Keeping Murali at bay

The Indian batting has also done well in not giving Muttiah Muralitharan wickets; the great off-spinner hasn’t taken one since the first match, and in this format, if denied the early wicket, he becomes less of a threat — not easy by any means, but liveable.

But while the batsmen’s limited success is being celebrated — the way the game has evolved and the misery that predated this revival have ensured it will be thus — it’s the bowlers that have powered India’s riposte.

The feeling in the Indian camp is that Sri Lanka is vulnerable against seam bowling, and Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, and Munaf Patel have exploited it expertly; indeed Zaheer has appeared unplayable at times.

The pitches here breed bottom-handed batsmen that tend to hang back: these characteristics predispose them to falling over their front leg, and thrusting ahead of their body, neither of which is advisable against quality seam bowling. It’s no surprise that Jayawardene, the most top-handed of Sri Lanka’s batsmen, has been its most successful against India’s seamers.

Winning the toss helps

The conditions and Dhoni’s luck with the toss have helped. The strip in Dambulla offered bounce and movement. The track here at the Premadasa, although slower than the ones in the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium, afforded cut once the lights were turned on.

But the help available doesn’t discount the efforts of Zaheer, Praveen, and Munaf. With Dhoni playing the extra batsman — “The way we are batting, it’s tough to sacrifice the extra batsman for the luxury of a fifth specialist bowler,” he said — their roles are doubly crucial. They must strike early, removing Sri Lanka’s batting cream, so the Dhoni can deploy his non-specialist bowlers against less accomplished batsmen.

This they have done to such effect, parading ability and control, that Sri Lanka’s batsmen are suffering a confidence crisis. “It’s something to think about,” said Jayawardene. “Guys do tend to have hiccups for one or two games but these are quality players who are eager to get back into form. It’s a question of playing out the early overs which we have not managed.”

Considering changes

Sri Lanka will consider changes to their line-up — the move to promote Chamara Kapugedera to separate the homes side’s three best batsmen, diluting their concentration in a sense, was one in this direction, and more could follow.

For India, Suresh Raina’s assurance against spin was encouraging. Equally heartening is that India has room for improvement. Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh are yet to fire. The catching was less than excellent (Dhoni said it wasn’t the easiest ground to sight the mud-crusted white ball).

Nevertheless, India will know that last mile is the most difficult; if it is to win the series, it must do it the hard way.

The teams (from): Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene (capt.), Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Udawatte, Chamara Silva, Chamara Kapugedera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Malinda Warnapura, Jehan Mubarak, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan, Dilhara Fernando, Ajantha Mendis, Thilan Thushara and Nuwan Kulasekara.

India: M.S. Dhoni (capt. & wk), Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, S. Badrinath, Virat Kohli, Parthiv Patel, Irfan Pathan, Praveen Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, R.P. Singh, Munaf Patel and Pragyan Ojha.

Umpires: Billy Doctrove and Gamini Silva. Television umpire: Tyrone Wijewardena. Match referee: Chris Broad

Hours of Play (IST): 2.30 p.m. to 6 p.m., and 6.45 p.m. till 10.15 p.m.

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