India aim to upset Sri Lanka in Muralitharan’s farewell

GALLE: India embark on a third Test series in two years against Sri Lanka with the world’s top-rated side hoping to end their 17-year drought in the island nation. The Indians have not won a Test series in Sri Lanka since 1993 despite playing on similar slow wickets at home.

India lost 2-1 the last time they played in Sri Lanka, in August 2008, but gained revenge with a 2-0 victory at home a year later that propelled M S Dhoni’s men to the top of the official Test rankings. Their new-found love for Test cricket over the more lucrative one-day matches saw them pencil in the three-Test series against Sri Lanka and another chance to defend their ranking.

And for Sri Lanka, it was an offer too good to refuse, whose only scheduled Test series this year would have been at home against the West Indies in November.

“The boys were desperate to play Test cricket, which is the pinnacle of the sport, and I am grateful that India agreed to this series,” said Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara.Sri Lanka, currently fourth in the Test rankings behind India, Australia and South Africa, are hoping to showcase their prowess in home conditions, where they have proved almost invincible.

The Sri Lankans have won eight of their last nine series at home, the only setback coming in 2006, when Pakistan won a two-match series 1-0.

Their success has mainly been down to the prolific work by world bowling record holder Muttiah Muralitharan, backed by a strong batting line-up led by Sangakkara and former captain Mahela Jayawardene.

Murali waits for landmark

Off-spinner Muralitharan, 38, who will quit the five-day game after this Test, needs just eight more scalps to reach the unprecedented tally of 800 Test wickets, adding to a record 515 in one-day matches. But Dhoni claims that his team will not allow Muralitharan to have it all his way.

“Good luck to Murali, but we are here to win,” said Dhoni. “This is Test cricket and we do not intend to give our wickets easily. Our batsmen would like not to give him the opportunity to reach 800 wickets during the first Test.”

However, despite having never lost a Test match at home to Sri Lanka, India know the Sri Lankans are a very different proposition on their own patch.

India are bolstered by the return of Sachin Tendulkar, along with the seasoned trio of Rahul Dravid, V V S Laxman and Yuvraj Singh to complete a formidable middle-order to follow openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. But injuries to pace spearheads Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth have blunted India’s bowling attack, leaving off-spinner Harbhajan Singh to shoulder the burden.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 18^th, 2010.