Broad bats, big turn8230; and pace?

The ones conspicuously missing from all discussions ahead of the first Test match have been the fast bowlers...

The ones conspicuously missing from all discussions ahead of the first Test match have been the fast bowlers, which is quite understandable considering the presence of an entire section of the international batting hall of fame and, of course, a spin trio that has 1618 Test victims. And since the game happens to be at a venue that is most likely to be on the 8216;places to avoid8217; list circulated in the pace bowling fraternity, the new ball bowlers have been left alone.

But that seems to be a piece of travel advice floated around by an alarmist since past records show that the pacers have been as effective as the spinners. And that8217;s the reason why Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene shakes his head when one asks him if this will be the kind of game where spinners will dominate. 8220;There is a lot of hype about this and that before this Test match. But all of a sudden someone can come out of the blue and make an impact,8221; he said.

Here are a few facts that prove the pacers will not be turning up at the Sinhalese Sports Club just to take the shine off the ball and present it to the spinners in their team. Sri Lanka played England in the last Test here and the pacers took 12 of the 20 wickets. By the way, the biggest turner of the ball the game has ever seen 8212; Muttiah Muralitharan 8212; got just one wicket from 27 overs he bowled in the fourth innings of the drawn encounter. That can be a one-off low for Murali at the SSC, since in the last Test that Sri Lanka won here 8212; against Bangladesh last year 8212; he got nine wickets. Even in that game, 10 of the 20 wickets went to the Lankan pacers.

So it becomes quite necessary to look beyond Murali, Ajantha Mendis, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh and check the pace strength of the two teams. For India, the new ball is expected to be shared by Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma while Lanka too have a similar youth-experience mix of Chaminda Vaas and Thilan Tushara / Nuwan Kulasekara. With the pitch assisting the pacers in the first session, early wickets will have a big impact on this Test.

India have the edge

Zaheer and Ishant, with their pace and their show in the warm-up game, showed that they are capable of striking early blows. As for Vaas, he is a clever bowler but, at 34, he isn8217;t the force that he used to be, besides, he doesn8217;t have a strike partner with the quality or pace of someone like Ishant. The only worry for Kumble could be the ineffectiveness of Zaheer in subsequent spells because of his long injury lay-off.

What tilts the balance in favour of the Indian pacers is the difference between the quality of the opening batsmen on either side or, to put it more accurately, the absence of Sanath Jayasuriya. Kumble did give the impression that neither he nor his pacers were missing the Lankan opener known to demoralise any attack. 8220;It8217;s a relief for any bowling attack. Jayasuriya wasn8217;t there for the Test series in India and one could see how much the Lankans missed him,8221; he said.

While Zaheer and Ishant wouldn8217;t lose sleep over bowling to Lankan openers Vandort and Warnapura, the same can8217;t be said about Vaas and his yet-to-be-decided new-ball partner. Virender Sehwag isn8217;t much different from Jayasuriya when it comes to seizing the initiative and Gautam Gambhir, too, has shown that he can do the same in the shorter version. That the Indians bat deep will add to the Lankan problems. When they return for their second spell, they might just be bowling to the likes of Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman. As for Zaheer and Ishant, an early breakthrough would mean getting a go at Lanka8217;s batting mainstays 8212; No 3 Kumar Sangakkara and No 4 Mahela Jayawardene 8212; when the ball is new and there is life in the pitch.

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And then, of course, there8217;s the spin department. Here, it8217;s a contest between the tag teams of Kumble-Harbhajan and Murali-Mendis. But since even Mendis can8217;t take a guess if he could stand up against the strong batting line-up, making predictions would be futile. While all eyes will probably remain on Mendis, that really does not mean that the pacers will be part of a meaningless opening act.