This is the third series in two years that they are playing against Sri Lanka but it has been eight years since the West Indies have visited India, and while India have visited Bangladesh quite a few times, Bangladesh has NEVER played a Test match in India. 

With that caveat out of the way, the series itself has some interesting aspects even with the premature withdrawal of Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth  weakening India’s pace bowling attack even further.  The series will be the last to see the Magnificent Muttiah Muralitharan bowling in a Test match.  It will also be interesting to see whether the Indians have learnt to cope with the guile and trickery of Ajantha Mendis, who made a strong case for being part of the side in the first Test, with his six wicket haul in the warm-up game, after surprisingly being left out of the Sri Lankan squad. 

The naming of the squad before the warm up game, and the subsequent egg on the face of the selectors, indicates that the Lankan board is no more adept at such things than the bumbling BCCI.  India meanwhile have flown in Abhimanyu Mithn as replacement for Zaheer Khan and now Munaf Patel as replacement for Sreesanth.  Neither Zaheer Khan or Sreesanth bowled a single over in a competitive game on the tour, before injuring themselves.  It begs the question of who is monitoring the fitness of India’s fast bowler, now that the BCCI has dismissed the very successful Venkatesh Prasad and replaced him with a virtual unknown, who is basically a flunkie for coach Gary Kirsten.  This shows the BCCI in very poor light, treating an Indian coach shabbily, promoting nepotism, and maybe or maybe not saving a few measly bucks in the bargain.  But for a board that is currently suing and being sued by the man who has made it rich beyond even its own cash infused dreams, this is nothing new.   

The series itself is hardly a pressure one, as even if India lose, they still retain their No. 1 Test ranking.  What a cricket fan would hope for, and what would be good for Test cricket is a series where there is balance between bat and ball and both the matches produce bright exciting cricket, regardless of the results.  Both captains have indicated that is their goal in pre-tour press statements.  Of course, they will need the help of wickets that are not total featherbeds, and cooperative weather conditions, but assuming those, then one hopes for the fans sake and that of Test cricket in general they are true to their word.  Otherwise it will not just be back to Lanka but back to boredom.  

View a Printer Friendly version of this Story.

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon
• Tweet