Wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara on Sunday sympathised with Indian batsmen for the humiliation they received at the hands of Sri Lanka's dreadful spin combination -- Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis -- in their first Test at the SSC.
Harbhajan Singh does not doubt mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis' potentials but the star off-spinner believes it is old trickster Muttiah Muralitharan who would pose bigger threat for the Indian batsmen in the forthcoming Test series. Harbhajan heaps praise on Mendis, who ran through India's batting order in the Asia Cup final in Karachi, and said it was an extraordinary display of quality spin bowling.
Sehwag, with 491 runs, at an average of 122.75 in four innings, including two hundreds and one fifty, is the leading run-getter in the present series, a record for India against Sri Lanka in a Test series.
Sri Lanka will be looking to cross the 400-run mark, which should be good enough on a track that has decent pace and bounce in it, star opener and century-maker Tillakaratne Dilshan said in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka suffered an injury scare on Tuesday when Muttiah Muralitharan was taken to hospital after complaining of side strain. However, he was ruled fit for the third Test against India, in Mumbai, starting on Wednesday.
Muttiah Muralitharan is the highest Test wicket taker of all time and it is highly unlikely that anyone in contemporary cricket or in the near future can even approach the world mark the champion Sri Lanka bowler would set before retiring.
Following are statistical highlights of opening day of the second Test between India and Sri Lanka played at Green Park Stadium in Kanpur
Statistical highlights on the fifth and final day of the first cricket Test between India and Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad.
The Australian off-spinner claimed his seventh five-wicket haul in Tests against India to equal the record of taking five wickets or more in an innings against India with Sri Lanka great Muttiah Muralitharan
Mahela Jayawardene (240) and Thilan Samaraweera (231) set a fourth-wicket Test record stand of 437 runs as Sri Lanka piled up 644 for seven declared on the second day of the first Test against Pakistan in Karachi on Sunday. Pakistan were 44 for one in reply, opener Salman Butt (23) edging Muttiah Muralitharan to Jayawardene at first slip after Sri Lanka had declared in the final session.
Sri Lanka clinched a consolation 68-run victory against India in the fifth and final one-day international in Colombo on Sunday to avoid a series whitewash. Sri Lanka piled up 320 for eight with opener Tillakaratne Dilshan top-scoring with 97, then bowled out India for 252. India won the series 4-1.
India created history on Thursday, recording their ninth one-day victory on the trot after thrashing Sri Lanka by 67 runs in an inconsequential fourth One-Day International in Colombo. A career-best 150 by Gautam Gambhir paved the way as the tourists posted an imposing 332 for 5, after winning their fourth successive toss, and then dismissed Sri Lanka for 265 in 48 overs.
Muttiah Muralitharan became the leading wicket-taker in Test and one-day cricket when he dismissed Gautam Gambhir for his 503rd wicket, in the fourth One-Day International against India in Colombo on Thursday. The 37-year-old off-spinner, who holds the Test record with 769 dismissals, overtook former Pakistani left-arm pacer Wasim Akram.
Indian off-spinner and Test prospect Mohnish Parmar, who has a similar bowling style to Sri Lankan spinning great Muttiah Muralitharan, must rectify his action to correct flaws, India's cricket board said. Parmar, 20, emerged as the most successful in Indian first-class cricket this season with a tally of 52 wickets from just 11 matches.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat against Sri Lanka in the final of the tri-series at the R Premadasa Stadium, in Colombo, on Monday. India, who lost to Sri Lanka by 139 runs on Saturday in the last group match, made one change bringing in youngster Virat Kohli in place of Dinesh Karthik.
The dashing batsman will be on a short-term contract to cover for the absence of fellow-Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan.
Muttiah Muralitharan claimed five wickets to put Sri Lanka firmly in command of the first Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka on Saturday, the off-spinner's haul leaving the hosts on 177 for nine at the end of the second day. After Bangladesh had made a confident start with an opening stand of 44 in response to Sri Lanka's first innings total of 293, wickets fell at regular intervals as Muralitharan ripped through the home batting line-up.
Sri Lanka seized control of the second Test against New Zealand on Friday as they reached 157 for two, a lead of 339 runs, at stumps on Day 3.
Sri Lanka clinched a resounding 202-run victory on the final day to take a 1-0 lead in their two-match Test series against New Zealand on Saturday.
Left-arm seamer Thilan Thushara and off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan shared six wickets to leave New Zealand struggling on 281 for eight on the third day of the first Test on Thursday.
309 - Number of Test wickets taken by Harbhajan Singh, same as that of West Indian Lance Gibbs. Among the off-spinners only Muttiah Muralitharan (756) has taken more.
Bowler Chaminda Vaas could play his final Test after being recalled to the Sri Lankan side to face Pakistan starting on Monday. Vaas, 35, is expected to announce his retirement from Test cricket before the start of the third Test, which would be his 111th game in a 15-year career that has bagged 354 wickets.
Sri Lanka recalled 35-year-old bowler Chaminda Vaas for the third and final Test against Pakistan, starting on Monday. The left-armer, who has taken 354 wickets in 110 test matches, was not selected for the first two Tests won by Sri Lanka.
Bengal may be excited about having roped in Test cricket's leading wicket-taker Muttiah Muralitharan to revive its fortunes in the Ranji Trophy Plate League, but the Sri Lankan off-spinner says he is yet to sign a formal contract and his priority is his country. Speaking from Colombo on Tuesday, Muralitharan said he is still unsure about his availability though the Sri Lankan Cricket Board has given him a go-ahead.
The Sri Lanka off-spinner broke the previous record of 708 wickets, held by retired Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne, when he bowled England's Paul Collingwood for 45 on the third day of the first Test.
The selectors offered the pair, the most successful bowlers in Sri Lanka's one-day international history, an opportunity to rest because both have niggling injuries.
Muttiah Muralitharan will have to wait for next month's series against England to break Shane Warne's world record for most Test wickets.
Spin wizards Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne on Thursday ended their brief war of words after patching up at the unveiling ceremony of the 'Warne-Muralitharan Trophy' and described the entire saga as 'miscommunication'.
The Warne-Muralitharan Trophy is a joint initiative from Cricket Australia and Sri Lanka Cricket to celebrate 25 years of Test cricket between the two countries.
Instead of celebrating the narrow win against Kings XI Punjab, Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was fuming after poor catching threatened to cost them the high-scoring IPL thriller on Thursday.
Muttiah Muralitharan was run-out as he went to congratulate centurion Kumar Sangakkara against New Zealand.
A spineless India slumped to their third heaviest Test defeat as Sri Lanka clinched the first Test by an innings and 239 runs with the spin combination of Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis plotting the visitors' downfall in Colombo on Saturday. After enforcing the follow-on, Muralitharan (6 for 26) and Mendis (4 for 60) tore through the Indian batting order to bundle out the visitors for a paltry 138 to record Sri Lanka's biggest victory at home with a day to spare.
Foolish to focus only on Mendis: Dravid The Sri Lankan attack is not all about Ajantha Mendis. It will be foolish to focus only on the mystery spinner and ignore others, like Muralitharan and Vaas, warned former India captain Rahul Dravid.
Sanath Jayasuriya scored a superb 130 as Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by 132 runs in their Asia Cup match.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is optimistic of the team's chances at the upcoming Asia Cup.
Former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga on Monday said he believes that ace off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan can end up with more than 1000 Test wickets if he plays for another few years. The 47-year-old was effusive in his praise of India ODI captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and said India are on the right track in their preparation for the 2011 World Cup.
Despite being one of only five players nominated for all three main categories, the off spinner was omitted from the World Test XI.
Ace spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has also been included in the team's 15-man squad.
Sachin Tendulkar, who dropped a rung to 14th in the batsmen's rankings, leads a pack of five Indians in the top-20.
All-rounder Andrew Symonds has urged Australian crowds to applaud Muttiah Muralitharan if the controversial off-spinner breaks Shane Warne's test wickets record when Sri Lanka tour Down Under in November.
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