The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Lankans have the firepower to rattle India

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Dec 10, 2005

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Sport - Cricket

Lankans have the firepower to rattle India

I read with interest that Rahul Dravid wants a `quickish' pitch at Kotla for the second cricket Test. It is a legitimate concern, for an under-prepared spinning track could well play into the hands of Murali.

It is not a one-day but a Test match where Murali could not be too concerned about wides or that he is allowed to bowl only 10 overs. He can keep as many fielders around the bat as he wants.

Even in one-dayers, which not only brought a loss of face to the Sri Lankans as well as slip in the rankings, Murali was a shining exception. He was rarely clobbered, not even in Jaipur where Mahendra Singh Dhoni was scripting that career-defining 180-odd. It is not easy to hit him for fours, more so when the ball is turning square.

I believe the Sri Lankans have the firepower to rattle the Indians in Delhi. Vaas, Murali and Fernando are all match-winners. But they must stick to their attacking style of play rather than bowl defensively.

In Chennai, they concentrated on keeping the ball on the stumps and took the pace off their deliveries which was sensible since the ball was keeping low and batsmen could only show the full face of the bat.

It is also vital that the Lankan bowlers play their part for it is a better bowling than batting unit. In the absence of Sanath Jayasuriya, the team appears to have lost its batting firepower. Sri Lankans must adjust to this new reality quickly. — PTI

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