Hopes of winning a test series in India will have to be shelved at least for a few more years. Yet, the initial goal, winning a test match in India is not all awry. Chances are still alive but it's really a matter of consistent performance in all five days, rather than having one or two good days followed by a very bad day.

Muttiah Muralitharan celebrates taking the wicket of Gautam Gambhir during the first day of their second test cricket match in Kanpur. REUTERS

Despite losing the second test in Kanpur, by an innings and 144 runs, Sri Lankans are still in a buoyant mood. Maybe, because, they know their strengths and the weakness of their opponents.

"Look at the boys. Boys are still confident that we can win a test match in India"

"We played well in the first test, we played well in day two here. They are disappointed of what they have shown here. They'll come out full of fight in the third test to show people how good they are" said the team coach Trevor Bayliss.

India scored their 100th test win, 77 years after attaining the test status but the Lankans were not down hearted. They know they had a bad day in office and that had happened to be the day if most important incidents took place.

To make matters worse, the UDRS (Umpire Decision Review System) was not in place for this series too. If it was, Virender Sehwag would have found it difficult to reach even double figures, let alone a swashbuckling 131.

"As we came here, we thought that if we can win one test match, we've got a chance of winning the series." the coach said. Even though a series win is out of the equation by now, the team is focused on winning a test at-least. We've got a lot to achieve in Mumbai. Whether we win the series or not, we can still win (a test match) and finish the series 1-1. That's a good motivation for us"

"Disappointed? Yes, But that's the way cricket goes. If you don't play well, you lose and we have got to accept the responsibility and move on" skipper Kumar Sangakkara told at the post match press conference in Kanpur.

The good thing, here with the cricketers, is that they never look back and worry over the past. The pessimistic bunch of players are always focused on their target.

After 17 years of a glittering career, Muralitharan is on his last overseas tour, and his fourth in India, as a test player. When asked about his last overseas tour as a test player, and ending a career, without a win on Indian soil, the master spinner came out with a mature answer. "Every cricketer has disappointments. What can we do? Life has to go on. Everything in life doesn't happen and something is missing. What I got is an amazing career and I've done amazing things" said Muralitharan.

Aging Muralitharan has not been at his best at recent times.

"As he gets little bit older, I am sure the body is not supple as it was used to be. He is obviously coming to the end of his career. But, on his day, he is still one of the best bowlers going around" said Trevor Bayliss
Muttiah Muralitharan himself admits that too. He has no regrets of deciding to retire after the two match test series against the West Indies next year.

"Now I am 37 years old and I can't bowl as much as those days. After 15 or 16 overs, I get tired. Two to three years ago, it was not like this. Body has its problems. Your have niggles here and there and groins are not the same as they used to be" Muralitharan said in Kanpur.

In three innings, Muralitharan has bowled 101 overs on bowlers graveyards. In this series, he has conceded 396 runs for mere five wickets in two tests.

"If I don't do well, then I will retire from both forms of the game, even before the world cup. Depends on how the body goes. Main thing is the body" Muralitharan said.

Muralitharan has only three more tests to play for his nation and nearing the 800th wicket mark. The bowler says that he is not focusing on the landmark.

"We're thinking about winning the matches. If it's (reaching 800 wickets) not going to happen, it may not happen. I am not a believer on numbers. 800 is just a number. Everyone will forget, once you are retire and that's the way it is"

"It's good if I get there. If I miss it, I will still be happy as I had a great career" Muralitharan said.
It's hard to believe, but Sri Lankan batsmen failed for the first time of the year, having played in 11 matches. It was the only time they scored less than 300 runs in both innings and lost a game.
"Those batters have to get back to the approach in the same fashion they have done in last two years. Back in the making of big scores" and that's what the cricket doctor, team coach, orders them.
Apart from that, Kumar Sangakkara has to justify the logic of spending more time in the nets than in the middle.

Any team, or a man for that matter, can understand their mistakes, erase them and bounce back. That is what Sri Lanka needs in Mumbai.

Sri Lanka team totals in test matches in 2009