576 & 191 – two numbers quite a distance apart, but both of immense significance. It was in 1997 when Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama flayed the Indian attack for that monstrous second-wicket partnership. It was a time of dominance for Sri Lankan cricket, and their next decade looked settled enough.
Today, the landscape of Sri Lankan cricket is quite different. In the first six days of this Test series, the gulf in quality to their sub-continental neighbours has become bigger and bigger as the two Tests have progressed. It makes for some wonderment how Indian cricket could come so far ahead, and just how could Lankan cricket be left behind.
This is where that other number, 191, finds its significance. Do you know that this is the second-highest second-wicket partnership for Sri Lanka against India in Test cricket? Yes, second only to that 576.
It is a weird statistic given the frequency of India-Sri Lanka cricket in the past 20 years. This is the eighth Test series between the two nations since 1997 and it is simply surprising that no second-wicket pairing had gone higher than 181 between Tharanga Parnavitarna and Kumar Sangakkara at Galle, 2010.
A brilliant chapter
Until today, that is, when Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis wrote a brilliant chapter in the annals of their country’s cricket. Their mammoth stand, lasting 51.5 overs, was not quite as destructive as the one Jayasuriya-Mahanama put on. Nor was it an everyday occurrence as such partnerships might have been when Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene were around. It was a bright spark though, of hope and perseverance, one that lit up this otherwise drab and one-sided series.
Now, think of R Ashwin. Like any spinner worth his salt, this is someone who plots each and every dismissal in detail. He plans, and works out, just how he is going to bowl to different batsmen. The angles should be just right, whether to a left or right-hander, especially if the pitch is affording slow turn. Thing is, plans have a habit of going awry.
Just before the tea break, during an impromptu drinks session in between overs, Ashwin went to where Karunaratne was batting and shadow-practised as a left-handed batsman. It was almost as if he was facing himself, trying to figure out which lines and angles would bring out the desired result – a breakthrough India were desperately seeking.
“There isn’t much within the stumps for the ball to do,” said Ashwin after the day’s play. “I can’t really come straight because it is not doing a lot from the straight. It is pretty wide that, the lines I need to be bowling, both for the left-hander and the right-hander. I was just thinking how far I could get. Also the breeze was taking the ball away from you as you come closer to the stumps. Those were the factors,” he added, explaining his shadow practicing.
It didn’t work, as Karunaratne had some plans of his own against the off-spinner. “When I am batting (against him), I play for the straighter one because he has a lot of variations,” the opener had said after play on day two. It allowed the batsman to be perhaps better prepared for the turning deliveries from Ashwin.
Mastering the sweep
Look at his wagon wheel, and there are only five scoring shots in the proverbial V. For most part, the opener was content at not playing for runs. When he did, Karunaratne either looked to drive or play behind square, both late. And last but not the least, he deployed the sweep.
That last word is quite significant, again. The sweep has been a favourite of the Lankan batsmen in this match. On Friday, Ajinkya Rahane had expressed a desire to see them playing more such shots because it is difficult to control on the turning pitch. However, from the morning when Lanka collapsed to 183 all out in their first innings, to the remaining two sessions, the pitch slowed up just enough to allow batsmen that extra margin to execute this shot very well.
Now, look up Mendis’ wagon-wheel. Against Ashwin, he only has two scoring shots on the offside, one in front and another behind square (a four). The remainder has come on the leg-side, with the sweep being his go-to shot. Against an in-form off-spinner, most times Mendis had the audacity to sweep across the line. At other times, he drove or pulled Ashwin towards midwicket as well, releasing the pressure.
“He didn’t get a lot of boundaries off the sweep [off my bowling], and I was happy to let him sweep because it creates chances to get a top-edge. Next time, I will come with a different plan,” said Ashwin. Against Ravindra Jadeja, Mendis’s used the sweep to even better effect as he doesn’t have as many variations as Ashwin and is a more limited spinner in comparison.
Mendis scored 65% of his runs against the left-arm spinner on the leg-side, peppering it with seven fours. Such was the audacity of his cross-batted sweeps that only two of them came behind square.
Stoic in defence
Karunaratne’s ploy was a bit different. Against him, Jadeja dropped the ball a bit short, generating a tad more bounce and thus allowing the batsmen enough freedom to play off his hips. The opener’s real contribution came against Ashwin though, when he bowled with new ball, blunting it long enough before opening up for runs. He will have to do this job again, when the second new ball becomes available on day four.
If Mendis’s approach was to sweep everything out of sight, Karunaratne was stoic in defence and flat-batted to good effect, a combination that finally gelled well. Together, they defied India for two sessions, yes, maybe raising hope of a miracle in this Test. More importantly, they painted a vision for Lanka’s future.