Indias fortunes rest on Super Sehwag
At the end of second days play at Colombo one thing is 100% confirmed that Sri Lanka cannot lose the Test after amassing a monumental 642 for 4 in their first innings. Sri Lankas huge first innings total in the second test also secures the series for them because even if India manages to force a win in the third test which is highly unlikely considering our mediocre bowling attack the series will be tied 1-1, a result Lankans will be more than happy with considering that India currently ranked number have been on a high prior to the start of this series.
On expected lines Sri Lankas premier batsman Kumar Sangakkaraand Mahela Jayawardene made merry aided by a flat pitch and a now accustomed to mediocre Indian attack. While the Lankan skipper belted a double century Jayawardene not to be denied his share of spoils belted a century though he would have felt disappointed not to emulate his skippers exploits. Even though it is a flat pitch the pressure would be on India because their first target itself is scary as they have to make 443 to avoid the follow on. Sangakkara who had hardly shown any brilliance as skipper during his tenure must be complimented for making a brilliant declaration. Had Sangakkara declared at 500 plus to give himself enough time to take 20 Indian wickets that would have backfired because Indians would have then needed only 300 plus to avoid the follow on.
As far as Indians are concerned the task ahead of them is purely mental and one related to handling pressure. If one looks at the Sri Lanakan scorecard on an average a partnership yielded 150 plus runs and came at a run rate of 4 plus per over which only goes on to prove that there is nothing to worry the batsman and the Indians did the right thing by going after the bowlers. Another thing Indians should not be thinking of follow and instead should try to surpass the Sri Lankan score to win a mental battle ahead of the third test. The key to India's fortunes would be Virender Sehwag as he has a few milestones to look into and that would only help Indias cause.
To being with Sehwag who would start the third day unbeaten on 64 needs another 105 more runs to pass the 7000 mark in Test Matches which would place him in an elite company with many legends. By the time Sehwag reaches 7000, he would have been on 169 and Indian score would be well on 300 plus and well on their way towards avoiding the follow on. Sehwag should target yet another 200 considering his current form, the pitch and mediocre Sri Lankan bowlers and Sehwags past record in ammassing double centuries should help his own cause and that of Indias and infact Sehwag has his best opportunity to score a triple century and if he does so he would become the only cricketer to achieve this feat.
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