The biggest positive for Sri Lanka since the crushing defeat to India in the second Test could perhaps be the unavailability of Gautam Gambhir for the third Test, in Mumbai, beginning on Wednesday.
The left-hander hit back-to-back centuries in the first two Tests of the series before opting out of the third because of his sister's wedding.
For Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara and his struggling bowlers, his absence is certainly welcome relief.
"We hope to exploit Gambhir's absence. He is the batsman in form, he has scored a lot of runs this year, two hundreds against us in two Test matches," replied Sangakkara, when asked about the same.
After all, Gambhir is India's top Test batsman over the last 12 months or so, having hit four centuries in successive Tests. His innings of 114 helped India save the first Test in Ahmedabad and the smashing 167 in the next in Kanpur was instrumental in setting up the huge victory.
Sangakkara is hoping his bowlers will exploit the situation and put his replacement, Murali Vijay, under pressure. The Tamil Nadu batsman has played just one Test. Incidentally, he had replaced Gambhir after the left-hander was banned for elbowing Shane Watson in the Test series against Australia last year.
"The absence of a quality player like that leaves a gap, but it also means the new guy coming in will be really hungry to make a mark. To exploit that is our responsibility; we will try and do that," Sangakkara said.
Indeed, the void left by Gambhir will be hard to fill. In his last nine Tests since last October, the Delhi left-hander hit seven centuries, including a double hundred against Australia that went along with four half-centuries. It clearly underlines his contribution to India's recent success and their elevation to the top of the Test rankings.
Not surprisingly, his Delhi team-mate and opening partner Virender Sehwag declared that he is one of the best openers the country had produced after the legendary Sunil Gavaskar.
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