Image via WikipediaThe following stats tell a story on its own:
- 10 of the 20 Indian wickets were due to Muralitharan and run-outs(2) He will not be present in the playing eleven next test match. Who will take these for Sri Lanka the next match? Malinga, who took 7, will however be still present. Will the burden be too much for him?
- 52 overs were played out by Mithun, Ishant, Ojha along with VVS Laxman in the 2nd innings. The other 7 accomplished batsmen - 64
- Malinga and Herath scored 115 during their partnership - 100 less and the follow-on would have been averted by the Indian team. Even with the partnership, if they had scored 44 runs more in the first innings, the Indians could have played out the match for a draw.
- Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha bowled 32.1 and 31 overs respectively. How many wickets did they get? 0
- Herath bowled 45 overs in the match - 1 wicket to show for his efforts. Think what will happen in the next test match without Murali.
- Sehwag scored a century while VVS, Tendulkar and Yuvraj scored fifties. Sangakkara, Paranavitana scored centuries for Lanka while Herath and Malinga scored surprising fifties.
- Gambhir played 5 balls in the match for his 2 runs.No other contribution on the field. In fact, he dropped a half-chance. Match to forget for him.
- MS Dhoni lost his 2nd match as captain. Importantly, first match after his marriage was a loss. His record in test series show him improving as a batsman after the first match. Let us hope this stat is true.
