Touches of levity may have appeared out of place as lanky Dilhara Fernando seemed intent on causing a few moments of doubt in Sachin Tendulkar’s mind as the batsman was one run away from history. Amid the frenzied drama at Ferozshah Kotla, this particular theatre was set for a record-breaking moment.For a while at least, it lessened the hyperactive mood in an already tense stadium. There was Sri Lanka captain Marvan Atapattu, desperate for a solution to the ‘Sachin Equation’ tugging Muttiah Muralitharan out of the attack and calling up seam and swing bowler Fernando.So how do you bowl to Tendulkar when he is in such a determined mood? It’s not easy. There is more to it than running up and bowling thoughtful deliveries to put him under pressure. Chaminda Vaas was doing his best to keep some form of control; it didn’t always work.The early breakthrough, when he grabbed Gautam Gambhir in the first over, was forgotten as the Tendulkar roadshow began to grab attention and assert itself. After that initial wicket, the Sri Lankan bowlers battled for length. Vaas kept it up while Fernando was inclined to bowl short and Murali mixed it up on a pitch that did not give the bowlers too much help.But if they are not going to learn that in India, about getting the length right, then there are problems for the bowler and the captain. Trying to set a field is not easy and the Indian batsmen with VVS Laxman initially finding gaps with ease, it was simple enough to fiddle around with nice touches and find gaps with classic strokeplay.Sourav Ganguly, as an example, showed up Muralitharan as did Tendulkar with three crashing boundaries in one over after tea that begged the question: Do Sri Lanka have a bowling plan to curb Indian strokeplay?The suggestion was that they did have a bowling attack; although why give leg-spinner Malinga Bandara eight overs and Tillekeratne Dilshan one over doesn’t quite fit in with logic. Atapattu’s reliance on three bowlers to deliver the bulk of the overs gave the impression that he was suddenly unhappy with the attack at his command.If Vaas swung and seamed the ball around in Chennai, at Kotla, the clear and chilly early winter day did nothing to help his reputation. Mind you, the cloud cover and pitch conditions favoured the Sri Lankan bowlers in that game.But if Bandara is selected to play as a bowler, give him the opportunity. He may have been a trifle expensive and even occasionally wayward, but more exposure helps his cause, not less.Atapattu’s reasoning no doubt is that by giving 66 overs to the experienced bowlers was more of a holding job; it is a defensive mechanism. Something that doesn’t quite work.
