Ready to go flat out

India versus Sri Lanka has proven to be a match-up between the batting line-ups.

The curator at the Galle International Stadium probably wanting to be diplomatic or not succumbing to emotion has made it clear that no turner will be prepared for Muttiah Muralitharans final Test.

Taken at face value it points to a rather flat batting track being laid out here for the first Test. The experienced batting giants in both line-ups know how to make the most of these tracks. Though Galle has not seen totals as high as those posted at the two venues in Colombo,by the end of the three-Test series the batters should be going home with swelled up averages.

India versus Sri Lanka has proven to be a match-up between the batting line-ups. The constant presence of Muralitharan for nearly two decades and the breakthrough series of Ajantha Mendis,last time the tourists were here,took away a bit of focus from the batsmen. Now,with India fielding a weakened bowling line-up following injuries to Zaheer Khan and Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and Sri Lanka to play without Muralithran after the first Test,and Mendis yet to be picked for the series,this has all the makings of a high-scoring one.

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In 2008,it was largely because of the element of surprise and intrigue that Mendis brought along,that the famed Indian batting line-up couldnt respond in kind to high scores posted by the hosts. In the first Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo,riding on hundreds from Malinda Warnapura,Mahela Jayawardene,Thilan Samaraweera and Thillakaratne Dilshan,Sri Lanka declared at 600 in the first innings and didnt have to bat again.

Nine years ago,once again Sri Lanka,riding on four hundreds in an innings,made 610 in the third Test at the SSC and recorded an innings victory. Two years earlier at the same venue,Sri Lanka made 500-plus and India almost matched it in a game played as part of the Asian Test championship.

The 1999 two-Test encounter between the two countries was dominated by hundreds,but none bigger than Sanath Jayasuriyas 340 and Roshan Mahanamas 225 when Sri Lanka posted a record 956 for six declared in response to Indias 537 in the first Test at the Premadasa Stadium. Even in India the match-ups have often being batsman-centric. In all 1,598 runs were scored in the Ahmedabad Test in November. Of the 14,500-plus totals in an innings,nine have come on Indian soil,while the other five have come at the two venues in Colombo.

Bowlers have broken the pattern on and off. At Galle in 2008,Harbhajan picked up 10 wickets but then Anil Kumble and Zaheer Khan were around too. Kumble has two ten-wicket hauls against his name at Lucknow and Delhi against the Islanders. Muralitharan has largely kept the flag flying for the bowlers. He has picked up 10 wickets in a match at the SSC against India and had last time scalped 21 in the three-Test series. The off-spinner has taken 57 wickets at home against India,while 13 of these have either been Rahul Dravid or Sachin Tendulkar.

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Both teams will be weaker in their bowling departments but Lanka surely nose ahead in the series stakes with Indias bowling resources,especially the pace attack,thin on experience and not in great form.

Weather may play spoilsport

However,weather is likely to play spoilsport with the weathermans prediction of overcast conditions on all five days.Galle was lashed by heavy rains on Saturday,forcing the ground staff to cover the entire field.