India-SL second Test ends in a dull draw

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Colombo: Local branch members of the Sri Lanka flat earth society are planning to make the Singhalese Sports Club their permanent residence. They may even ask the national curator Aunruddha Polonowita to become their new president.

And while this tongue in cheek suggestion is being mulled over, Sri Lanka Cricket may be asked about how a tour as this has been allowed to develop into such a farce. Or, as one Singhalese commentator, Nihal Perera said, “It would have been better had it rained all five days than sit through this.”

It is also now more understandable why Muttiah Muralitharan decided to end his career in the far more congenial confines of Galle International than the soulless pitch prepared at SSC. He wanted one where he knew he had a chance of getting his eight wickets for 800. At the Maitland Place venue, he would have been denied such an opportunity.

He had enough experiences of the SSC conditions through the noughties to give him nightmares for the rest of his fruitful retirement years. Sweating labour as if condemned to some chain gang by a fiendish curator who has a problem with understanding how Test cricket needs a pitch like those at Galle which brings results.

Last November in Motera, Sri Lanka and India played out a similar farcical game, with a draw the only likely result as Sri Lanka relied on the aging Muttiah Muralitharan to bowl the side victory. It didn’t happen; in fact, it was never going to happen.

It is why when reviewing Day Four, of that Motera Test, and the way Gautam Gambhir batted, his saviour image was as strong as any you might find in the Indian camp. But remarks around the Colombo traps at the time the game in Ahmedabad, and of how the Murali doosra and other fancy tricks, would give Sri Lanka their first Test win in India, was not smart thinking.

It ignored the off-spinner’s success rate this year. His final match analysis of 3/221 was far worse than the 2005 effort and then gave him an Indian career return of 34 wickets at 42.58.

It is why places like Motera and SSC should be avoided as Test venues, the Colombo one because it is earning a reputation as a killjoy in terms of Tests and SLC need to seriously think their options of whether they are just plain frightened to produce a pitch where the opposition will win; as was the case in 2006 in Kandy where Mohammad Asif wrecked Sri Lanka’s batting on the third afternoon.

For this Test at SSC, they opened some of the gates as well, knowing after heavy criticism, how so few people turned up. Maybe also, the reason why, with some tongue in cheek, Mahendra Singh Dhoni told the post-match conference, in such circumstances as these, the fifth day be scrapped.

Just how serious is this comment should be directed at SLC who were those who organised the tour in the first place and why Muralitharan picked Galle as his Test swansong.

While this draw ensures that India remain number one in the ICC rankings, with their latest adjustment showing how even a Sri Lanka victory in the third Test, starting next Tuesday, will not topple Dhoni’s team from top position. It did though, leave a warning memorandum about the criticism of preparing such pitches for Tests.

Dhoni sheepishly flat-batted, too, a suggestion at the post-match media conference he enforce a declaration at some stage after Sachin Tendulkar’s dismissal on Thursday. His reason here being that they wanted to put the screws in and build a first innings lead.

It is four years since the now retired Muralitharan gave the SSC pitch conditions a backhanded compliment. In 2006, he had just taken 10 wickets for the 54th time on a pitch that produced a world record partnership of 624 between Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene against a struggling South African bowling attack. He was the only bowler to make an impression in that Test, with Nicky Boje giving away 221 runs in 65 overs of toil and trouble, his comments were, "I guess someone has to set records - mine is useless. Has anyone else gone for a double century at this venue before?”

To this, South African all-rounder Andrew Hall added the laconic, “It explains it all. How he (Muralitharan) can get the ball to turn on this slab of concrete suggests the difference between a genius and a wannabe genius.”

On that occasion, South Africa were missing both Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis, both recovering from operations and watching the carnage at home.

Muralitharan, as he so often did, led an attack that footslogged on for 157.2 overs to bowl out South Africa as second time. In what were key passages of that Protea second innings, he delivering 64 overs on a pitch becoming slower and more docile. Even giving it a rip didn’t seem to work.

Muralitharan’s contribution in that Test of 10 wickets for 172 runs during 82.2 overs, explained how in such conditions why he is the backbone of Sri Lanka’s bowling. He reeled off over after over, perspiring in the scorching heat. In total he delivered 384 deliveries, all with the same intensity and complete focus.

When it was over, he grumbled with the incredulous: "This SSC pitch is getting slower and lower with each series. This body (he was 34) can't churn out (82.2)so many overs a Test for much longer. I really need to talk to the curator about the bounce . . . No bowler is going to enjoy these conditions if they continue to be like this. It was really hard work among the hardest I have had to bowl in.”

If you look at the bare statistics of the match that ended yesterday, they explain the sorry story of this second Test between Sri Lanka and India: 1478 runs scored in 430 overs for the loss of 17 wickets, which is an average of 3.43 runs an over and partnerships worth 86.94 runs.

There were five centuries, two of them doubles, the 219 scored by Kumar Sangakkara, earning him man of the match award; it was his seventh double century. For Mahela Jayawardene, he downplayed his dismantling of a record held by the legendary Sir Donald Bradman (most centuries at a venue). Sachin Tendulkar engineered his 48th century, extending it to his fifth double century, helping Suresh Raina to a memorable debut century.

This Test was condemned to death by tea on day four and failed to recover. In fact, this is how the rumour of the local Flat Earth Society are about to hold their next meeting at the venue.

While officials offer platitudes and smile, or perhaps smirk, for the camera, Test cricket’s viability as a saleable product has been given a heavy slap by local officials, and dangerously close to lose credibility.

For those who remember, the same excuses offered back in November over the Motera debacle, where slow death by similar suffocation was applied. The teams were same contestants that battled out here at the SSC.

Of course, they will point to the win over an underpowered New Zealand side here last year, forgetting how the third Test of the series with Pakistan ended in a stalemate – the hosts falling 101 runs short of the 492 target.