 Pressure will be on Mendis: Kumble
22nd Jul 2008 23:02 IST
Agencies
The Indian batsmen have done their homework well and Sri Lanka's mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis would feel the heat bowling to a vastly experienced line-up in his debut Test, captain Anil Kumble predicted today.
Since he ran through the Indian ODI line-up in the Asia Cup final in Karachi, Mendis has dominated discussions and the Sri Lankans are hoping for a similar effort from the unorthodox spinner in the Test series against India.
Kumble, however, sought to put some pressure on the youngster and said Mendis would find going tough against India's star-studded line-up.
"It's not just Mendis, every bowler is discussed. It's his first Test, let's not forget that. The pressure is on him," Kumble said, implying that the batsmen are well prepared for the Lankan attack.
"As a youngster you are obviously nervous. If you look at our batting strength, most of them have played more than 100 Tests," Kumble said, explaining why Mendis might find it difficult against India.
Rather, Kumble felt India needed to be wary of Sri Lanka's old warhorses.
"The two bowlers who have done extremely well over the years are (Muttiah) Muralitharan and (Chaminda) Vaas and we cannot discount that we need to be concerned about them," he said.
Incidentally, Kumble's opposite number Mahela Jayawardene also felt that the media had created a hype around the spin sensation.
Apart from Mendis, the umpire referral system continues to intrigue both the sides even though Kumble says he is comfortable with it.
"It will be helpful for the umpires and the teams as well. This is meant for the obvious errors which happen on the field and it's something we can negate, rather than look at every way to question the umpire," said the veteran leg-spinner.
continued.. |
