Kumble saves India blushes !!

Murali spun a web around Indian batsmen and the score literally read 45/7. Atappattu would not have imagined this in his wildest dreams. I thought that he tossed the ball to Bandara, just to bowl the 80^th over, before getting the new ball. Murali continued for the 81^st and if they would have taken the new ball, may be things could have been different but just then Sourav got out and started a procession that never stopped. Murali’s Doosaras, pitched on the leg stump, were turning like Shane Warne’s leg breaks and although every one can see what is coming, no one dared to play it in the right manner. With the result, India virtually surrendered the match, for all practical purposes – so it seemed, until Kumble restored some parity.
A few other observations :

• Yuvaraj Singh, again proved that he is a bunny against top class spin bowling.
• Sachin was unlucky to be given out LBW , on a day when it rained LBWs. Dhoni got a peach of a ball and could have been the difference, if he has hung on to make even a quick fire 30.
• Indian tail should have thrown their bat around rather than just staying around. Agarkar, for some strange reason curbed the fireworks of Bhajji. 25 or 30 runs more by the last 2/3 wickets would have really helped.
• In SL innings, Indian bowling was listless and Bhajji was especially ineffective. Dravid, I thought brought in Kumble too late and Kumble himself was not living upto his high standards until he woke up late in the day.

No one expected Murali to run amok like this. His bent arm is pretty obvious in his doosras but too much time has passed on and this action has been allowed to continue for so long, I remember a decade ago, when Murali toured India, playing tests, he was just another spinner but now with a record 48 5 hauls, too much water has flown under the bridge and the best thing for now is to keep quite rather than crib about his action. I still admire his stamina and the will of his.

What is ahead ? Well !! My draw prediction proved to be totally wrong but that is okay since it was made out of common wisdom and observing Indian cricket for long. Over the years, India has lost numerous matches due to its inability to finish off opposition’s tail. Vaas and Bandara can bat and Murali can throw his bat around too for a nerve wrecking quick fire 20/25. Dilhara is not much of batsman but even he hung around for a while in the BP XI practice match. India has to take these last 4 wickets within the next 40 or 50 runs, for them to have some chance. Pathan should pair up with Kumble and should polish off the tail in double quick time. Otherwise, they are in trouble since Murali will be virtually untouchable in the 2^nd innings.

I will say that India, has to open with Dhoni in the 2^nd innings. He should be used to launch into an attack like what Afridi did at Bangalore during Pak tour of India and even 40 runs coming off the opening few overs before Murali comes in, is still going to be handy. But, I doubt very much whether it will happen since Dravid is too responsible and too conventional to a fault and he will willingly shoulder on by taking it on himself, thereby missing a simple trick of unsettling the opposition. It will be also a moot point, if Murali opens the bowling with Vaas and that is entirely not ruled out especially if Lanka come close to 290 or even lead. I will say that the advantage is with Sri Lanka, 65-35 at this time since India may not polish off the Lankan tail and will struggle to make anything in excess of 150 in the 2nd innings.