Colombo: India's first innings slide continued on day one of the crucial third Test on Friday. It could not have been easy for the skipper Anil Kumble to watch either.
Kumble had no hesitation in deciding to bat first at P Sara Oval, but the way his batsmen handed the job was far from impressive.
2.Short HighlightsA smart stumping by Prasana Jayawardene of VVS Laxman off Ajantha Mendis removed the last of the tourist's top batsmen three balls before tea. It left India on 190-6 and the need for the lower order to rescue their side from what has been a self-inflicted loss of wickets.
While the rookie and the veteran struggle to overcome Sri Lanka's tight grip in the deciding match of the series, recalled Parthiv Patel and his partner Laxman did what they could to pick up runs against the dual spin attack of Muttiah Muralitharan and Mendis.
Highlights Of the Match
But Laxman over-balanced as he failed to read the top-spin flick. The wicketkeeper needed no invitation to perform what comes naturally in such cases an whipped off the bails as Rudi Koertzen didn't need the third umpire to know that Laxman had lifted his foot at the crucial moment.
At tea, on what is a good batting surface, although the bounce may have been disconcerting at times, creating doubt at times in minds of the batsmen, India have no one to blame but themselves in this case for throwing away wickets.
Even Gautam Gambhir, who had batted with skill and care for 72 and looked set to score a century, failed as did Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, to pick up the straight ball. Their dismissals were all referred to the third umpire, Billy Doctrove.
It is this culpability for failing to pick up the straight ball before lunch that has left India in the predicament they find themselves.
While Tendulkar and Dravid lost their wickets to debutant Dammika Prasad, a 25-year-old with an aggressive, if passionate approach to bowling and this three wickets were well deserved as he bowled a tight, competitive live.
As it is, Tendulkar's quest to beat Brian Lara's record as the leading run-scorer at Test level still eludes the Mumbai batsman.
Tendulkar asked for the referral after Mark Benson gave him out and the review indicated the ball would have carried on hitting the middle and leg stumps. Tendulkar's six runs in this innings means that he has failed to make an impression so far this series and requires another 90 runs to go ahead of Lara.
But Prasad, presented with his cap before the Test started at the refurbished venue, bowled a tight an accurate off-stump line that had the batsmen often in trouble, although his dismissal of Virender Sehwag was a tad fortunate.
