Sri Lanka Clinch Series

Sri Lanka won the third and final test at Colombo by eight wickets to clinch the three test series against India, repeating their performance from 2001. India lost this Test Match on the first innings, despite having had the benefit of winning the toss.

Looking back, it is hard to name any one factor which was the difference between the two sides. But if one were to insist on pointing something out, it would be that the Sri Lankan bowling had an enormous edge, in terms of two astonishingly good spin bowlers, both of whom could turn the ball both ways.

I don't remember the last time a Test team could boast such a spin attack. Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmed for a brief period after Saqlain had perfected his doosra and Mushtaq was still a force to reckon with come close, but even then it was mainly conventional spin.

It is a measure of the resurgence of spin bowling that the doosra is now considered a conventional delivery, and most international batsmen pick it.

What is most stunning about Ajantha Mendis is his temperament. That he is able to call upon all his variations at will, and yet bowl with an excellent line and length is very impressive.

He seems to know at what pace he should bowl, at least in Sri Lanka. His great Test will come when he goes overseas, where his variations might not turn as much, and hence the pressure on him to beat the batsman in flight will be much greater.

But what a beginning! It is safe to say that Mendis is easily the most impressive bowler to have arrived on the scene in recent memory. With Murali at the other end, he could not ask for a better cushion from which to launch a career which will threaten all of Murali's records, wherever Murali ends up.

India's spin attack had a touch of predictability to it, even though both spinners bowled well. The difference was that Mendis and Murali were able to attack the stumps at all times, while Harbhajan Singh was bowling for caught dismissals, especially against the Sri Lanka left handers

This is mostly because the Indian spinners are well known around the world, and there is hardly a batsman around who has not faced them for a longish period of time.

Anil Kumble has dismissed 364 different batsmen in Test Cricket (Murali has dismissed 392 for his 756 Test Wickets). This terrific Sri Lankan spin attack meant that unless the Indian new ball pair had a match-winning series, India would have almost no chance of winning.

As it turned out, Murali (21 wickets at 22.23) and Mendis (26 wickets at 18.38) out-bowled Harbhajan Singh (16 wickets at 28.12) and Kumble (eight wickets at 50).

Not only that, Vaas, who had a modest series with the ball, still ended up with five wickets at 44. This compares reasonably with Zaheer Khan's eight wickets at 44 and is only slightly worse that Ishant Sharm's six wickets a 35.50.

The batting of the two sides, in the final analysis, was not that far apart. Five of the Sri Lankan top six average 40 or more in the series, while three of the Indian top six managed the same.

Rahul Dravid showed some signs of revival towards the end of the series, while Tendulkar didn't get a score in six attempts despite looking untroubled for the most part.

When you consider that he reached 50 in the first innings in each Test Match in Australia (an unrivalled feat for a visiting batsman there in a series of three tests or more), Tendulkar's show was disappointing.

Sourav Ganguly's show was even more disappointing because he didn't look like getting a big score until the last innings. He kept getting beaten in the flight by Murali, something which points to slowing reflexes (something which is true of all four in Indian middle order).

This series will give the Selectors some food for thought. It remains to be seen if they are able to replicate their masterly management of the transition in the ODI side in the Test Team.

The ODI team (minus Tendulkar who has been ruled out thanks to the elbow injury he suffered in the third test) faces its sternest examination yet—facing Sri Lanka and Mendis in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka are a tough Test team in Sri Lanka, but as an ODI side they are a truly great team at home.

They have a 50-15 record in Sri Lanka in this decade, and if you remove the Minnow games they still have a 36-15 record against the other seven top Test playing nations (Bangladesh and Zimbabwe excluded).

With Mendis and Murali in their ranks, the Sri Lankan ODI side has just gained another dimension. This will be Dhoni's greatest Test, made that much more difficult due to Tendulkar's absence.

A rout is not out of the question in the ODI series. The Test series has not proved to be a rout only because the Indian Test team is basically a high quality (if aging) side. I suspect that Sourav Ganguly will be the first of the old guard to be left out of the Test team.

It's that time again...