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Journalism of Courage
As a last throw of the dice, after Sri Lanka had enforced the follow on, the Indian think-tank sent VVS Laxman to bat at No.3 in the second innings. He once did a miracle in a similar situation against Australia at Eden Gardens seven years ago, but at the SSC, long before the Test started, it was quite clear who the magicians were. Supple wrists lost out to nimble fingers as Sri Lanka recorded their biggest win at home. With Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis sharing 19 wickets between them, India lost the first Test by an innings and 239 runs.
Taking Laxman as a case study, one can explain the degree of difficulty the Indian batsmen had to face while dealing with the Murali-Mendis combine. Mendis’s precise movement and Murali’s prodigious break had the Indians in a labyrinth of several turns, and they were made to look like a scatterbrain trapped inside an intricate maze.
Foxed by Mendis
As Laxman, unbeaten overnight, walked out to bat on Saturday, he looked like the lone man among the visitors with a map in hand. He was gradually finding his feet, and when one got a glimpse of his graceful touch, a ray of light seemed at the end of the tunnel. Though saving the Test was a long shot, demystifying the two ‘Ms’ appeared to be on the cards. But that’s when Mendis ensured that the Indians would take the trip to Galle for the second Test with doubts still embedded in their minds.
In an instance, Laxman’s languid strokeplay was forgotten as he was made to look ugly. After beating Laxman repeatedly outside the off-stump with the away-going ball, Mendis bowled a loopy googly. As the ball sailed between the bat and pad of the confident-looking batsman, there was a new debate about the ‘ball of the match.’ The house was divided over which one was better: the leg-spinner that did Rahul Dravid in on Friday or the one that castled Laxman.
Within an hour, Mendis proved that he was no one-trick pony nor was Laxman’s dismissal a flash in the pan. He hit the batsman on his back pad with a ball that skidded to the leg stump after pitching on the middle. Laxman’s dismissal in the second innings proved that getting used to the unconventional would be tough. With the ball having a mind of its own after pitching, it remains to be seen how the visitors will be dealing with this situation.
Playing forward was one prescription the experts had floated. Rahul Dravid, after losing the stump playing late in the first innings, did move his left-foot forward but even then, he was foxed by Mendis — the ball took the edge and ballooned to the close-in fielder.
The sweep shot is one ploy that the batsmen use against the spinners. Sourav Ganguly in the first innings and Sachin Tendulkar in the second were out playing the shot against Murali. Ganguly got an upper edge and was caught at deep square leg on Friday, while Tendulkar playing the paddle edged to leg-slip on Saturday. The more radical view to negotiate spin is to hit the bowler out of the attack and Gautam Gambhir belongs to that school of thought. But when the southpaw was beaten in the flight by Murali and was stumped, even that trick had failed.
Mindless bat-swinging
Though it was pointless to mention the tailenders on a day when even the game’s greatest batsmen had failed, the lower order indulged in some mindless bat-swinging but to no avail.
Later, Indian skipper Anil Kumble said his team needed to regroup and discuss things. Being a fly on the wall when the Indians regroup will be interesting. As the mystery deepens, it is only a path-breaking solution that can help the Indians who look totally lost after crash landing on this island.
