It was here at the Rajkot Muncipal Corporation ground in October, 2003 that RP Singh and S Sree Santh got their first international outings at the senior level. In a pace revolution of sorts, three young fast bowlers — the third was Munaf Patel — were blooded on the same day as India A played New Zealand in a tour game. After the A-list pacers Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra had flexed India’s pace muscles at the World Cup earlier in the year, this was the selectors’ way of strengthening the bank. Except for Munaf who accounted got five wickets in the game, the other two had a forgettable outing. RP had gone wicketless while Sree Santh got Craig McMillan. Today, however, at the same venue, the selectors’ investment in the future paid off. RP’s 4/35 got him the Man of the Match award, while Sree Santh started the Lankan slide by claiming the wicket of Sanath Jayasuriya. But it was a twist of fate that had seen RP and Sree Santh take the field today. Had Vikram Rajvir Singh been fit to play, RP and Sree Santh — after their forgettable outing in India’s only loss in the series at Ahmedabad — would have been on the bench. The opportunity was there, but the task at hand was tough. Bowling on a dead wicket the rookie seamers on test had found the going tough, and pre-match predictions at Rajkot suggested another 300-plus innings. Then came the second twist of fate. Skipper Virender Sehwag won the toss and elected to ball. Second Test in Delhi Sri Lanka: U Tharanga c Dhoni b R P Singh 28; S Jayasuriya c Dhoni b Sreesanth 19; K Sangakkara c Tendulkar b Pathan 9; M Jayawardene st Dhoni b Kartik 14; M Atapattu c Sehwag b R P Singh 9; T Dilshan run out 59; R Arnold run out 8; C Vaas b Kartik 9; U Chandana b R P Singh 30; F Maharoof c Kaif b R P Singh 4; D Fernando not out 4; Extras (w 2, nb 1): 3; Total (all out in 42.4 overs): 196 Fall of wickets: 1-44, 2-56, 3-57, 4-79, 5-83, 6-118, 7-132, 8-161, 9-182. Bowling: Irfan Pathan 7-0-31-1, S Sreesanth 8-0-50-1, Rudra Pratap Singh 8.5-2-35-4, Murali Kartik 10-1-0-42-2, Harbhajan Singh 9-1-38-0. India: G.Gambhir b Fernando 28; S.Tendulkar c Maharoof b Fernando 19; V.Sehwag c Dilshan b Chandana 22; M.Kaif not out 38; Yuvraj Singh not out 79; Extras (nb 8, w 3): 11; Total (for 3 wkts, 34.5 overs): 197 Fall of wickets: 1-43, 2-57, 3-92 Bowling: Vaas 7-0-38-0, Fernando 10-1-58-2, Maharoof 4-0-24-0, Jayasuriya 3.5-0-22-0, Chandana 5-0-32-1, Dilshan 5-0-23-0.
