Atapattu falls two short of century

Atapattu’s early Test scores resembled an area pincode: his contribution in his first six innings reading 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 25, 22, 0. But the Lankan selectors acknowledged the dormant potential in him and persisted with him.

The seven-long years of rare patience has finally paid off as Atapattu followed up his maiden Test century at Mohali with yet another high quality and value-based innings.

Atapattu was a model for technical exactitude. His batsmanship was a page straight out of the coaching manuals: The head still like a camera while facing the bowler, the bat very straight, the transfer of the bodyweight and the footwork flawless as he waded into those breathtaking drives. The touch class inevitably finding the sweet spot of the bat with geometrical precision. Indeed, it’s one the great mysteries of cricket how a batsman so talented has taken such a long time to translate his potential into performance.

Srinath bowled quick, but he did not find the desired length to pose the threat one expected of him. In fact, it was Srinath’s new ball partner, Venkatesh Prasad, who bowled a probing line. He moved the ball well and beat the bat, but without getting the edge.

With Anil Kumble also emerging out of the hole he has found himself in for some time, run-making was not easy for the Lankans moreso, with Dharmasena adopting a passive role. Just 57 runs came in 28 overs before lunch and 70 runs from 29 overs in the middle session as the second wicket partnership of Atapattu and Dharmasena ploughed on to add 115 runs in 47.1 overs.

Dharmasena, who took 26 overs to hit the second of his three boundaries, was out heaving Rajesh Chauhan to mid-wicket. Mohammed Azharuddin, taking on the leadership reins from the injured Sachin Tendulkar, had just brought in the deep mid-wicket, a change which probably escaped the notice of the batsman.

The breakthrough was secured just before the tea break. After resumption, new man Roshan Mahanama drove at a widish away going ball from Prasad to be caught at gully. Aravinda de Silva came in and was lucky to survive even before he had opened his account as his flick off Abey Kuruvilla dropped just short of mid-wicket’s grasp. Luck deserted Kuruvilla again when Chauhan at first slip could not latch on to a hot chance offered by Aravinda (19 in a total of 251).

Chauhan, however, made amends when he spun one across sharply to deny Atapattu a well-deserved century. The ball stopped and turned as Atpattu, shaping to steer the ball, only managed to stroke it into substitute Ajay Jadeja’s hands at silly point. Chauhan then found the edge of Lankan skipper Arjuna Ranatunga into slip Azharuddin’s hands.

While Chauhan finished with three wickets in his kitty, Kumble bowled without any luck. It’s apparent that Kumble’s research and analysis with the help of coach Anshuman Gaekwad and the 1993 video footage of his bowling has helped him enormously. His body language is looking positive as he regained his bounce, fizz and confidence. He exercised far greater control over his bowling than he has in recent times and posed an omnipresent threat with pace and lift off the wicket.

Mumbai coach Balwinder Sandhu, who has done much to improve his cricketing erudition after a stint in the famed Australian Cricket Academy, said: “The problem with Anil’s recent lack of productivity has been because he was either running in too fast or too slow, which resulted in his shoulders opening out and the ball drifting down the leg. His shoulder should ideally come down straight. Also, his fitness level may not be the same what it was three years ago. He has to fine-tune the pace of his run-up to give himself the kind of upperbody speed he had at his peak.”

But there is no mistaking that Kumble is making himself a force to reckon with again. And that, indeed, is the biggest gain of the day for India.SCOREBOARD

India (1st innings): 512
Sri Lanka (1st innings): Sanath Jayasuriya c Azharuddin b Kumble (44b, 69m, 9×4) 50, Maravan Atapattu c sub (Jadeja) b Chauhan (273b, 403m, 15×4) 98, Kumara Dharmasena c Kumble b Chauhan (141b, 212m, 3×4) 40, Roshan Mahanama c Kumble b Prasad (66b, 69m, 2×4) 20, Aravinda de Silva batting (83b, 103m, 7×4) 48, Arjuna Ranatunga c Azharuddin b Chauhan (15b, 25m) 1, Hashan Tillekaratne batting (19b, 26m, 1×4) 4
Extras: (b 2, lb 8, w 4, nb 11) 25
Total: (for five wickets, in 105 overs and 456 minutes) 286
To bat: Lanka de Silva, Chaminda Vaas, Pramodaya Wickremasinghe and Ravindra Pushpakumara
Fall of wickets: 1-65 (Jayasuriya), 2-180 (Dharmasena), 3-219 (Mahanama), 4-259 (Atapattu), 5-269 (Ranatunga)
Bowling: Srinath 20-1-92-0, Prasad 14-4-28-1, Kuruvilla 13-2-42-0, Kumble 31-14-56-1, Chauhan 24-7-39-3, Ganguly 3-0-19-0