For cricket’s connoisseurs, this South Mumbai club could be the hottest haunt for the next five days. The balmy weather, cold breeze and a hot cricket contest could conspire to make for a compelling viewing. Test cricket at the fabled Brabourne Stadium... what more can one ask for!
For someone with a sense of history, the stadium, perhaps, is the right place to get lost. The stands, the club house, the library, the grass blades of the lush green expanse…every part of the sprawling structure here tells a tale of the game and its glorious history. Five days later, these parts of the hallowed venue could be telling a different story, rather a different history — that is about India’s impending and inevitable ascent to top spot in the ICC Test rankings.
With such high stakes, the third and final Test starting here on Wednesday could be more important for the home team than for the visitors. Kumar Sangakkara & Co. can at best draw the series. A win or even a draw, and the all-conquering MS Dhoni and his boys could scale an altogether different peak.
The India skipper played down the stakes but did not discount them nevertheless. “We play to win and not for the ranking,” he said on the eve of the Test, but hastened to add, “The win will take care of the ranking.” India have too many strengths to be resisted.
Besides the fierce motivation, they have the ability to turn the big challenge into a bigger opportunity. Dhoni and his team is rarely found wanting in a big game.
The only worry for the hosts is up the order. With Gautam Gambhir choosing to give the Test a skip, a lot of pressure will be on Virender Sehwag to give India a good start.
Kumar Sangakkara admitted that they lost in Kanpur because of the start they allowed the Indians. Dhoni would be hoping that Murali Vijay will combine well with Sehwag.
With Rahul Dravid in the form of his life and Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni all in good nick, India have little worries down the order.
With Sreesanth back at his best and Pragyan Ojha finding the going good with Harbhajan Singh, Dhoni has fewer bowling worries. The only concern for him could be the pitch — so far not one opinion has matched another on a rather bald rectangle.
For Sri Lanka, the main worry is their trump card — Muttiah Muralitharan. The wizard has been the shadow of his original self and it must have given sleepless nights to the skipper. Sangakkara put up a brave front saying Murali has the ability to rise like a phoenix but he admitted that the frequency of contests between the teams has made Murali less menacing. The world’s leading wicket-taker, with 788 scalps, has managed a mere five wickets at an average of 79.20 in the series.
Sangakkara, however, clarified that Murali remains his best bet and declared that in the event of them going in with three pacers, Ajantha Mendis will sit out. He also declared that Sri Lanka are good enough to beat the Indians at home.
If Sri Lanka actually manage to do that, they will have stopped India from scaling the rankings’ Everest.
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