India 234 all out on day one of Third Test against Sri Lanka

Colombo, August 29: The first day of the third and final Test between India and Sri Lanka at the SSC Stadium here was divided into two different stories. The first, told during the first session, was a happy one for India, while the other, played through the rest of the day was a tale of sorrow, scripted by a certain Muttiah Muralitharan, with a lot of help from the batsmen.

At stumps, Sri Lanka were 13 for no loss after India had relinquished the advantages of a superb start to be dismissed for 234. Muralitharan picked up eight for 87 off 34.1 overs, his best figures against India.

The glad tidings of the morning began with Sourav Ganguly winning his second consecutive toss, and promptly deciding to bat. The decision was inevitable, considering that this pitch will definitely break, and was vindicated as Shiv Sundar Das and Sadagoppan Ramesh had a fairly easy trot. At 91 for no loss after the first session, the Indians looked headed for a big total, something that would ensure that they were in command throughout the match.

One telling chapter of this story was the dismissal of Ganguly. The Indian captain danced down the pitch to Murali and then padded up. The Sri Lankans went up in appeal and South African umpire Dave Orchard ruled the stunned batsman out lbw.

That was a wrong decision. The ball was not straightening enough for the batsman to be given out for deliberate padding. Furthermore, it had to travel a good six feet more before reaching the stumps, so there was no way in the world that anyone could ascertain that it would hit.

You can be given out lbw for deliberate padding even if the balls hits the pads outside the off-stump, provided the ball was destined for the stumps, which was not the case here.

That was a crucial point of the match since Ganguly, with the match-winning 98 not out at Kandy still fresh in his mind, would have been keen to get some runs. But the way the others batted was a classic example of how to ruin a good thing.

The madness began in the fourth over after lunch. Das, who had been in fine form after initial hiccups, suddenly lost his head and charged down the pitch to Murali and played a horrendous shot, missing the ball completely. That he was bowled was incidental - he would have been stumped by a mile anyway.

That was a pity since Das was finally beginning to find rhythm. With the pitch offering little to the medium-pacers, he was going about runs with authority till he departed.

Ramesh has fallen in his 40s in practically every innings here. It is not know whether it is a mental block, but there is certainly something that is happening with him.

He stayed away from the deliveries outside the off stump most of the time, but the one occasion that he did fiddle with one was his end.

Rahul Dravid did not look half as comfortable as he was in Kandy, struggling against Murali most of the time. He could never go on the offensive, and aggressive shots were rare.

Mohammad Kaif has looked good in all his innings, but it is time he realised that looking good and coming good are not necessarily the same thing. He has handled Murali well, both here and in the second Test, but getting settled and then getting out are not the thing that makes for a long career.

Hemang Badani is another man who needs to do a lot of soul searching. He looked by far much more comfortable here, and dealt with the quicks easily. But against Murali, he fell thanks to total lack of judgment.

Badani tried to square drive Murali four times in succession, the second attempt flying through the empty second slip position. Jayasuriya immediately blocked that gap but the batsman continued to play the shot. On his fourth attempt, Badani was successful in committing suicide, at second slip.

With the side in trouble, and having made a mistake, he should have known better than to repeat it. Having scored 38, he cannot even complain that he had not settled.

Samir Dighe seemed loath to use his bat, and was trapped in front, while Zaheer Khan does not seem to have a clue about batting. He is a tail-ender, and should play like one instead of trying copybook defensive stuff against a bowler like Murali.

That India reached 234 was thanks to some sanity shown by Sairaj Bahutule and Venkatesh Prasad, who certainly merits coming in ahead of Zaheer while batting.

Zaheer also erred with the ball, spraying it around when bowling to Jayasuriya. What should have been a trying six overs for the Sri Lankans turned out to be a fairly comfortable stint.