The way some of the Indians got out in the first innings, it was a question of watching the enemy from within destroy whatever hope they had of avoiding the follow-on
The way some of the Indians got out in the first innings, it was a question of watching the enemy from within destroy whatever hope they had of avoiding the follow-on
There were question marks against some of the strokeplay the Indians indulged in here yesterday.
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It was a question of watching the enemy from within destroy whatever hope they had of avoiding the follow-on.
Virender Sehwag with a 20th century boosting his cricketing CV suddenly playing a nothing shot to a nothing delivery from Chanaka Welegedara. It seemed to have a domino effect as wickets began to tumble and the question of technique should also be examined.
Sehwag defended the way he was batting, saying at least 3000 of his runs have come from the cut shot. But his dismissal in the pre-lunch session was equally disastrous for India. Just as it was thought he could steer India past the follow on, he threw his bat out as if he was in a fly-fishing contest.
He also argued, not for the first time, how hard it is to score runs off Muralitharan. "He is always a difficult bowler to play as he is one of those you cannot plan against," Sehwag admitted. "Shane Warne is another of this type and always creates doubts in your mind and why Murali is a great bowler."
Sri Lanka coach, Trevor Bayliss supported the views of Sehwag saying how despite this being his last Test, Muralitharan's work in the nets before the game was typical of his commitment. "What has been important is that he did not want to take it easy in his last Test and was bowling quite hard at the nets to perform well," said Bayliss. "He bowled as many overs in the nets as he did for the previous 132 Tests," Bayliss added.u00a0
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