 Another stern 'spin' test for India at Galle
30th Jul 2008 15:02 IST
Agencies
A demoralised India will have to quickly find a solution to counter the twin threat posed by Sri Lankan spinners as they go into the must-win second Test in Galle on Thursday with the reputation of their star-studded batting line-up at stake.
Still licking the wounds of their humiliating defeat in the first Test in Colombo, the Indians got little time to regroup and work out a definite strategy to deal with the wily Muttiah Muralitharan and new spin sensation Ajantha Mendis who have proved quite a handful for the visitors.
Apart from the poor batting display, the Indian bowling and fielding also left much to be desired in Colombo and it will need a vastly improved performance from Anil Kumble and his men to keep themselves afloat in the three-match series.
The pressure, no doubt, will be on the batsmen who surrendered meekly to the spinners in the last game which was quite surprising considering their experience and reputation of playing spin bowling.
For a batting line-up which boasts of seasoned batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag, the collective failure in Colombo should serve as a big blow. It will be a real test of character for these top batsmen and they will be keen to prove a point.
The Indians have also been toying with the idea of bringing in left arm spinner Pragyan Ojha at the expense of a batsman to strengthen the spin department as the track here is expected to assist the slow bowlers.
Dinesh Karthik had a miserable time behind the wickets and as a batsman but the team management may still persist with him for the crucial game in conditions which are bound to favour the home team.
The Sri Lankans, on the other hand, have no major problems and will again be depending on Murali and Mendis to do bulk of the damage. The duo captured 19 of the 20 wickets in Colombo to script a resounding win for the team.
Curator Jayantha Waranaveera has already sounded the alarm bells by declaring that the pitch for the second Test will assist spinners from the third day onwards.
"This will be a spinners' wicket because Lankans have got good spinners. Why should we not prepare the pitch for spinners when we have bowlers like Muralitharan and Mendis in our squad," Waranaveera said.
continued.. |
