Indians looking for another... :

Knockout punch

*Murali looking to pocket the record

*Umpires, have sympathy on Sachin Tendulkar

*As for the Lankans ‘Eka simple plan ekak’ changing the style

There will be no stopping the Indian cricketing juggernaut as they attempt to steam roll over the Sri Lankans in the fourth one-day international at the R. Premadasa Stadium in another day-nighter, today.

The Indians who are on a roll in the Test scene and who are the reigning World Twenty20 champions are determined to add to their string of victories in the 50-over style of the game and go top of the one-day rankings.

And if the ruthless manner in which they have been knocking out the Sri Lankans in the three games already played is an indication, then the homesters are in for another hiding, unless they are able to raise their game Phoenix like from the Ashes.

In the three games that the Indians won, their game has clicked to a nicety in all departments. They have done all things correctly and performed at peak and victory was no big deal in coming.

Disappointment

The visitors one disappointment must be cruel dismissals of that batting magician Sachin Tendulkar. Tendulkar’s pads seems to be like a magnet to which the ball is attracted and when the appeal goes up umpires Jerling and Silva have raised the dreaded finger to send him back and what he must be muttering on the way back must be ....... One must have sympathy for the little master.

A little anecdote here would make interesting reading, especially to Tendulkar. It went like this. When the West Indians were touring India, the great Sir Garfiled Sobers had a hell of time, because every time the ball hit his pads or bypassed his bat, appeals went up and he was either ruled LBW or caught behind.

Sobers was so annoyed, frustrated and unable to take it any longer, and when he was ruled out again walked into the pavilion in a frenzy and demanded from his manager that he arrange immediately for his air ticket back home.

Saner counsel

But thankfully saner counsel prevailed and the mercurial Sobers went on to show his batting majesty in all its splendour. Tendulkar must certainly be thinking the same way.

How Tendulkar must be yearning to get his pad out of the way. From the manner in which he is being ruled out LBW, even if there were four stumps, nine times out of ten he would not have been out.

In the third game after the Indians had two early dismissals, that of Tendulkar and Gambhir, Virendra Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh took complete control and scattered the unimpressive Sri Lanka bowling all over the park and over it as well in a stunning and arrogant display of stroke making.

They bludgeoned the pacemen Nuwan Kulasekera, Dilhara Fernando and Ferveez Maharoof and even the vicious spin of Muttiah Muralitheran and the mystery spin of Ajantha Mendis was treated with disdain.

Their centuries and the big stand of 241 for the third wicket which propelled the team to a massive score of 363 for 5, was a thing of beauty and had even the partisan Sri Lankan supporters cheering them. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan added to the Lankan woes by bashing the bowling about an enjoying their stay out in them middle. Dhoni made 35 and Pathan a quick 59.

To describe the Lankan bowling would be to make some adverse comments. But suffice to say that it was just village green stuff.

Redeeming Feature

The only redeeming feature was that Mutthaih Muralitheran in having Singh caught in the covers by Jayawardena off a tired looking shot, equalled the one day bowling record of 502 wickets which is to the credit of one of the best left arm paceman that the game of cricket has ever seen - Pakistan’s Wasim Akram.

He would probably go past the record and make it and the Test bowling record all his own in this game.

As for the Sri Lankan batting the less said about it the better. After Sanath Jayasuriya dragged a ball on to his wicket, to give Sri Lanka a horrible start, the batting fell apart and it was left to Dilshan, Sangakkara, Jayawardena and to little extent Maharoof to salvage the wreckage, caused by the Indian bowlers especially left arm spinner Ohja.

As for the Sri Lankans, as Kumar Sangakkara says in his Airtel add. “Eka simple plan ekak” (simple plan) changing and doing the right things right in the one-day game. One hopes the Lankans would avoid another defeat in this and the next one and stave off a demeaning and degrading 5-0 whitewash that has never happened to Sri Lanka cricket in the one-day bash.