Big test for masters of spin

For the better part of the tour, the focus of the Indians has been on a certain cricketer answering the name of Ajantha Mendis. Since their debacle in the Asia Cup final where an unknown Mendis spun a web of intrigue around them with astonishing figures of six for 13, the Indians have become obsessed with this mystery spinner. Being acknowledged masters of spin, it must have indeed hurt to come up short in their primary vocation, batting.

With the five-match one-day series set to begin from Monday, the Indians flexed their muscles against a Sri Lankan XI in Colombo on Friday; it was an outing that is sure to give them a lot of confidence and they must be chuffed with their performance.

The recent record of the Indians in one-day tournaments isn’t all that bad; they have been winning a few but unfortunately have lost the crucial ones. The Bangladesh tri-series final and the Asia Cup final are moot points that Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men are unable to lift themselves up in crunch situations.

With a canny opponent in Sri Lanka, the Indians can’t afford to take chances. Mahela Jayawardena’s outfit fight with a tigerish zeal and their record at home is nothing if not outstanding.

They have always believed in squeezing the life out of their rivals on pitches of slow and low spin and most visiting teams will readily agree that tackling the Lankans on their turf is one huge task. Mendis, Muttiah Muralitharan and the old warhorse Sanath Jaysuriya can be real bottlenecks in these kind of stifling conditions.

It’s exactly why the Indian batsmen must get a grip with the proceedings. Save for the opening pair of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, the visitors batting struggled in the Test series and seen in that context, Yuvraj Singh’s glorious hundred in the warm-up match must have come as a relief for Dhoni.

Having said that, it was a bit surprising that they chose to send in Virat Kohli as an opener when in reality, the youngster, if he does get a look-in, will only make up the middle-order.

Given Sehwag and Gambhir’s success ratio and coupled with the injury enforced absence of Sachin Tendulkar, Kohli, if he is to be blooded ahead of the seasoned Subramaniam Badrinath, will only find a place after the Rainas and Yuvrajs.

Given the nature of the warm-up contest, the Indians would have done well to try out both Badrinath and Kohli before making a decision: like Sehwag, Gambhir could also have done with a bit of rest but it appears as if Dhoni’s decision is already made. Low, moderate scores will be par for the course at the Rangiri Dambulla stadium where the first two matches will be held. Interestingly, the matches here used to be day-night affairs a couple of years ago, but with the ball seemingly doing quite a bit in the latter part of the innings, the authorities have decided to do away with day and night matches. It all boils down to how the Indians respond to the Lankan spin trio: the masters of spin need to show that all is well and alive in their cricketing world.

Tackling Mendis will go a long way in assuaging the feelings and setting up the series for Dhoni’s young team.

A start has to be made. The sooner the bette