As has been written all over the Internet in a last couple of days, Sehwag seemed to be living in a different plane. The ferocity and conviction of his stroke play against top drawer spin bowling in spin friendly conditions to boot was incredible. Muralitharan posed no problems, Mendis could ask him questions only on limited ocassions and the pacers were never a worry. His undefeated 201 in first innings was an innings of extraordinary responsibility and deftness. The value of the innings is beyond words or any awards, it more than single handedly saw India through when the match seemed to be drifting to the same script as in Sinhalese Cricket Club. It might just be his best innings till date, even better than the shocking 195 in the opening day of the Boxing Day test match in Melbourne four and a half years back. The previous innings was played against a formidable attack (though without its two best stalwarts) with India 1-0 up, while the recent one was played against an arguably more challenging attack ( while it is too early to heap superlatives, Murali and Mendis together must be the strongest spin attack any team has had since the days of Chandra and co. ) with India 0-1 down. His half-century in the second innings was equally significant, for he took the lead to a decent margin in no time and once again showed that Sri Lankans spinners are playable even in the later part of the match. The next best batsman from India was Gambhir. The short Delhi opener with no-fuss attitude came to age in Test match arena with this test. All he did was to hit two fifties, but both of them came with relative ease and in this low scoring match were the only highlights in India's scorecards if one leaves aside Sehwag. Wasim Jaffer's second chance will take some time coming. And if Dinesh Kaartik doesn't get another shot in Colombo, he too may be relegated to India's third choice wicket keeper. His keeping was unimpressive and he was unlucky enough to make those mistakes at wrong times.
Harbhajan did not have as monstrous an impact on the match as Sehwag, but it was just as crucial. In the first innings, he brought India back into the match from nowhere. The Sri Lankans had seemed set on another mammoth total which would have ruled India out of the series. He was good in the second Innings as well, but was a supporting act to Ishant Sharma who bowled lesser overs and took lesser wickets but took the important ones. Mysteriously enough, the pitch was more conducive to seam than spin on the fourth day and Ishant Sharma made apt use of it. He rocked Sri Lanka with two key wickets early on and then again came back to take the wicket of Dilshan which must have relieved Indians to no end. Dilshan is a misleadingly cheesy character and has a resemblance to Javed Miandad when it comes to street smart cricket. His partnership with Samaraweera was definitely threatening if not alarming.
Sri Lanka will look back at this match with some concerns. Their batting line-up which had perhaps flattered itself in the first test match was probed more and didn't show up adequately. This match would be a reminder to them and the rest of world of the perils that accompany any team when youth no matter how promising suddenly replaces a set of seasoned campaigners. It will take them some more time to establish a formidable batting line-up, but Warnapura and company look promising. What would have worried Mahela more was the ease with which Indians played Murali in Galle, at times he was made to look like an ordinary bowler just going through the motions.
The next match starts in another five days time at Sarvanamuttu. Both teams would be having quite a bit to ponder in the mean time, but we have a classic shaping up for us.
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