How React the Media For India`s Loss ............Sangakkara toppled from top spot in Test rankings

How React the Media For India`s Loss

'Sri Lanka played perhaps the perfect Test match at the SSC ground, while India were woefully below even average. The final margin, an innings and 239 runs, was an apt indication of the quality of cricket the two sides portrayed in the first Test. 'Never in recent memory have India been humiliated thus in the sub-continent, on a true surface, twice in the same match by a pair of spinners. Every team has one extraordinarily poor Test match from time to time, and India had theirs at the SSC ground. Their bowling was less than intimidating in the best batting conditions of the game, their catching was shoddy and their batting was more English than Indian. 'Like rabbits transfixed by headlights, they appeared bamboozled and in a trance when confronted with the guile of Murali and the versaility of Mendis.' - R Kaushik, Deccan Herald. 'Fit for Ripley's Believe It or Not. Some, however, would argue there's no point being startled as the Indians are prone to dismal starts in most series. 'Whatever, unless a solution is found over the next few days, the doosras and the carrom ball-deliveries from MoM Muttiah Muralidharan and Mendis, respectively, will continue to torment. 'The psychological damage caused by such a crushing defeat could take long to heal. By then, the series may well be over.' - Lokendra Pratap Sahi, The Telegraph. 'There is little relevance to preparation if it does not translate to performance in the middle. 'After the drubbing in the first Test here, the Indians would have done well to understand the importance of performance. The batting order that was up against the best spinner in the game and another whose tricks are still difficult to spot. 'The top Indian six has a combined Test aggregate none in the history can boast of. Yet they failed to come to terms with the challenge in hand. This brings us back to the question of how much relevant preparation is to performance.' - V. Balaji, The Asian Age. 'After seeing the opening Test chart a highly unnatural course, one would like to ask the Indian team a simple question: were you batting in Mars while Sri Lanka did so in Venus? 'For close to two days, Lanka's batsmen cut, drove and pulled everything into pieces; India's bowlers gave a new meaning to line and length while the fielders were as shoddy as their ancestors. 'Mahela Jayawardene had no time for trivialities or accepted norms; he unleashed Ajantha Mendis as soon as the game seemed ready for him. 'He didn't bother to let the butterflies settle down in the debutant's tummy; he didn't prolong the agony for the watching world and India's batsmen. 'The formidable line-up, including the big five plus an in-form Gautam Gambhir, was confident; it acted liked it had already cracked the mystery. Mendis had a wry smile on his lips as he swirled the ball in the air. He flaunted his grip, unmindful of the million cameras. 'At the moment, though, Ajantha has made a bunch of seasoned players look like schoolboys batting with nothing in their hands. In Round One itself, he has delivered a knockout blow; can India get up from the floor, swallow the humiliation and put up at least a fight? Or will they continue to bat like they are in Mars? ' - Bobilli Vijay Kumar, The Times of India. 'It sowed the seeds of doubt about whether India's selection policy is starting to unravel the once formidable batting line-up. 'While they can combat Australia on Australian pitches and wipe the floor with England on the green, green fields of Blighty, the fact remains they have largely lost their ability to combat spin in Asian conditions.' - Trevor Chesterfield , Cricketnext.com. 'There are times when it helps to look back and analyse exactly what went wrong in a game. But in situations like this, where everything possible went wrong, it may be prudent to just consign the past to history and look forward.' - Anand Vasu, Hindustan Times. Cricket365.com ***************************************************** Sangakkara toppled from top spot in Test rankings West Indian Shivnarayan Chanderpaul replaced Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara at the top of the ICC ranking for the Test batsman. Sangakkarra, who surged to the top of the rankings in December last year, could manage just 12 runs in Sri Lanka's 600-6 declared in the first innings of the first Test and has consequently dropped to second place which he now shares with Australia's Mike Hussey. ---- Dailymirror.LK