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Was it a different ball game?
Daminda Wijesuriya reporting from Ahmedabad
It was a different ball game altogether. Yet, within the realms of test cricket itself. Sri Lanka's tour of India had much to do with rather an oval shaped red SG ball than world renowned Kookaburra, manufactured in Australia.
India beat Sri Lanka 2-0 with ease but both captains agreed that it was the help of the SG ball, to which Sri Lankans are not used to.

In any case, this is not going to be an excuse for Sri Lanka's poor performances in the series. It was totally due to their lack of concentration and killer instinct.

This lack of killer instinct is something that comes with Sri Lankan culture. Sri Lankans usually satisfy with smaller things that come their way rather than reaching for the best. They set big goals but tend to abandon them half way.
That's exactly what happened to Sri Lankans during the test series in India.
The tourists dominated in the one and half days at Chennai and they bowled out hosts for their lowest ever test score against Sri Lanka, on their own backyard.

The team was upbeat with it and everybody started thinking that they were going to make history by beating India on Indian soil for the first time.
"We showed them that we can bowl them out, which is very important in a test match"

Mahela Jayawardane told in an interview, couple of days before the second test at Firosha Kotla, in New Delhi. With Muttiah Muralitharan back to his best, claiming seven for 100 on the second day at New Delhi, they bowled out India for 290 in the first innings. The last seven Indian wickets fell for 36 runs and Sri Lankan were 175 for two as close of play approaches. Sri Lankans were over the moon by this time with all the hopes of beating India in India and that's when the “45 minutes of madness" began.

Sri Lanka lost the grip as four top order wickets tumbled for 23 runs. The team, dreaming at 175 for two, was reduced to 198 for six and they never came back again. Sri Lanka was bowled out for 230, conceding a lead of 60 runs to the hosts.

Sending Irfan Pathan to open in the second innings, messed up the Sri Lankan plans. The left handed all rounder took the test as well as the series away from Sri Lanka with a gusty 93.

It is not a bad idea at to show their courage and confidence. But the whole scenario was changed when Atapattu stepped out to drive only to see the ball into the hands of Anil Kumble.

How did the Indian late order batsmen batted so well in the latter stage of the series. As Indian captain revealed, India had used red SG ball to get the best out of their spinners.

"I don't think SG red ball swings after 10 overs. It's good for our spinners because of it’s got a good seam, than Kookaburra ball"
"Harbajan Singh and Kumble got more bounce with SG red ball than Kookaburra" said acting captain Virender Sehwag.

However, playing with the red SG ball is not something that Sri Lankans discovered after going to India. They knew what the ball that going to be used in India well before the series.

It's true that Sri Lankan top order was not clicking and batsmen had runs in patches. Is it a reason to play seven batsmen in a side, particularly on a favorable track?

It was coach Tom Moody and skipper Marvan Atapattu saying that the wickets in India offers nothing to the bowlers and it was quite evident as well.
Asked whether Sri Lanka lacked the fifth bowler, Coach Tom Moody disagreed.
"The bowling attack we had was well balanced. What we've got to realize is that when you have a world class spinner, Like Murali, he tends to bowl a high percentage of the overs" Moody said.

"Having an extra bowler, quite often, not really used" Moody added.
Yet, playing on spin friendly surface and knowing the fact that the wicket is not going to give any assistance to pace bowlers, there was another spinner in the Sri Lanka dressing room who did nothing but carried the towel in all three matches.

Left arm spinner Sajeewa Weerakoon was the most successful spinner in the last domestic season as well as the last two 'A' series against Pakistan and South Africa. He got himself selected into the national side by sheer performances but not given a match here other than the three day game.
India had done their homework. They knew best how to negotiate with the strike bowler, without sacrificing their top order batsmen. As Marvan Atapattu himself agrees, it was Irfan Pathan who handled Murali the best. Pathan scored 202 runs in three innings with two half centuries and Murali conceded 336 runs for seven wickets in the last three innings.

"Our plan was to play positive when Murali comes. If we are positive, then he opens the field. That's why he didn't get wickets" Sehwag said after the match. On a situation like this, the fifth bowler would have been an advantage.

However, Sri Lankans have a tendency to play with seven batsmen on overseas tours, irrespective of what kind of a cricket they play. Once, in a world cup semi final against Australia, Sri Lanka played eight batsmen and bowled out Australia for 213 with just three front line bowlers. Yet they lost the match and this shows how scared Sri Lankans are to play with six batsmen.

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