Geoffrey Boycott believes India’s best chance at winning Tests abroad lies only in Sri Lanka. His reasoning: the wickets are flat and aid spinners. But he’d probably revise his opinion if he takes a close look at the Emerging Teams Trophy tri-series currently being held in Colombo.Over the past week, the budding stars of the Indian subcontinent — a region known for its batting prowess — have struggled to score 250. Not a single century was scored and all the major scorers were the lower-order batsmen. And the major cause of the batsmen’s discomfiture crawl were the fast bowlers. While Pakistan’s young quicks performed as per expectations, it was the Indian and Sri Lankan fast bowlers who were the surprise package; India’s Irfan Pathan and Avishkar Salvi topped the bowling charts with seven wickets from three matches.So why have the batsmen failed on the normally placid tracks?While India coach Lalchand Rajput believes it has been ‘inability’ of the batsmen to adapt, his Pakistani counterpart Naveed Anjum blames the pitches. Both, though agree on point: All three teams have quality batsmen, but they have just not stayed long enough to make the runs.But if there is one thing that has gladenned Rajput’s hearts it has been the performance of the Indian quicks. ‘‘Earlier it used be just Pakistan who used to produce fast bowlers. But our bowlers bettered them this time around. Even Sri Lanka now have a good crop.’’Pakistani coach Anjum though believes the fast bowlers were made to look better than what they really were as the real hero were the pitches. ‘‘It has been raining and the pitches as a result have become wet. The ball is seaming around,just enough, to keep the bowlers busy.’’So was this the right time to host the event? ‘‘Yes it was, it just happened to rain,’’says Anjum.But hosts Sri Lanka have had none of these problems as they have been the most dominant in the tournament. Both Anjum and Rajput believe the home team had prepared better than the two Asian giants. ‘‘They have been preparing meticulously and have made the most of home advantage.’’And what has impressed Rajput most has been the change in the approach of the Sri Lankans since he toured here as a player in 1985. ‘‘Wickets have improved. They are now planning on a different level. The infrastructure has improved and what’s more their under-19 team has already started training for the February 2004 World Cup.’’More than anything else says Rajput it has been ‘‘intent’’ to change which has been the most important.
