Coming back to life

Sri Lanka's cricket team, like the island itself, is an unpredictable beast. From apparent harmony can erupt the most ugly internal ruptures. Then, just when you feel that that the team has spiralled out of control and faces certain doom, the players pull rabbits out of the hat and everyone is smiling once more. And so it has been in the last six weeks. It has been a roller-coaster ride that saw a united and confidant team, billed the No.2 ODI force in the world, lurch into crisis and back again.

Sri Lanka's 6-1 drubbing created a furore at home and amongst the legions of impassioned Sri Lankan expatriates living overseas in distant corners of the globe. There were a few wise souls but most, including the selectors, clamoured for blood, outraged that their cricketers could succumb so meekly against its big sister. The growing optimism that had emanated during Tom Moody's first three months in charge was replaced by a despairing gloom, as thick as the black monsoon clouds that have hugged the island during the past two months.

Sri Lanka don't have a monopoly on overreaction. England's sensationalist tabloids love building up heroes and then sweeping the carpet from beneath them with a sadistic glee. India's supporters, meanwhile, can descend from screaming joy to flag-burning depression in one emotional wave of Sachin Tendulkar's bat. But in a Global League of Overreaction, Sri Lanka would be nudging for the top spot. Memories of the good work under Marvan Atapattu and Tom Moody evaporated in a puff and knives were drawn after the ODI series.

The selectors led the way, scrambling for the panic button and sacking the batsman that India's bowlers fear most on the back of a lean trot in the ODIs. Sanath Jayasuriya should not have played at the start of the ODI series, but he should be playing at the Kotla today. The grounds for his omission changed. First, we were told it was a combination of form and fitness. Later we were told it was fitness. In the last 10 days he has walloped one hundred and a fifty for his club side, Bloomfield.

Even if you accept his omission from the first squad, the refusal to call him up after the unfortunate injury to Chamara Kapugedera is outrageous. Jehan Mubarak oozes talent. He is a nice chap too, eloquent and intelligent. But his first-class record is pathetic: an average of 27.65 with only one century in 120 visits to the crease. Jayasuriya - and indeed Russel Arnold - have every reason to feeling miffed. Even without his batting, Jayasuriya's left-arm spin could have provided balance to the team. Blooding youngsters is fine, but Sri Lanka do not have the depth of talent in the reserves to justify the axing of Jayasuriya just yet.

Sri Lanka had lost 6-1, and played rudderless and feeble cricket at times. Atapattu's captaincy was briefly exposed, becoming reactive rather than proactive as India went on the offensive. But no allowance was given for the fact that Sri Lanka were returning to India for the first time since 1998 for a full ODI series. Only a handful of players had experienced India at its most chaotic and overpowering. Taking on India at home is one of the stiffest challenges in cricket. Ask the Aussies.

We forget how fine the line is between success and failure. Upon one borderline decision or streaky moment can hinge an entire series. The game is littered with wonderful 'ifs'. What if Jayasuriya was fit? What if Tendulkar was given out in the first ODI in Nagpur, as he should have been, before settling into his stride and setting the tone for the series? India grabbed the momentum and they were clever enough to not fritter away the early advantage. While Sri Lanka's confidence haemorrhaged, India's skyrocketed and they galloped home.

But a new series wipes the slate clean and Sri Lanka were given an opportunity to start afresh in the Tests. Most pundits at home, depressed even further as a ceasefire became ever more fragile, predicted a sound thrashing. While the team that started the ODI series was strongly united, the squad that departed for the Test leg was internally fragile, pushed towards breaking point by a dangerous brew of poor selection and political interference. But, somehow, just when we prepared for embarrassing meltdown and a 3-0 thumping, Sri Lanka perked up.

Cyclone Baaz ruined the Chennai Test, but the one-and-a-half days that were possible could prove incredibly important as Sri Lanka, on the back foot and with confidence paper-thin, clasped some precious early momentum. The confidence lift of bowling out India for 167, their lowest-ever total against Sri Lanka, should not be underestimated. The fact that the batsmen also responded positively, dismissing notions that the pitch was a minefield, added to the early feel-good glow.

However, Sri Lanka's first victory on Indian soil remains a long way off. Excelling in a one-and-a-half day Test was just a sparring entrée to the series. Delhi's Kotla Stadium is the main dish with Ahmedabad's featherbed pitch, renowned for being slow and low, now inked in for the final match. The Kotla pitch was relaid in 2004 and we don't really know what is in store, although history points towards a batsman-friendly surface that will fizz and crackle for the spinners in the last two days.

Sri Lanka, like India in the ODI series, must now press on for the jugular. Any hesitation now will open the door for an Indian revival. Thus, Sri Lanka must weigh up whether the time has come to let Lasith Malinga loose. Dilhara Fernando has progressed steadily since re-entering international cricket earlier this year and with Sri Lanka worried enough about their batting to play seven specialist batsmen, he is the safety-first choice in a two-man pace attack.

But Malinga is the wildcard that gives Atapattu new wicket-taking options aside from Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan. Sure, he'll be expensive on occasion, but you can be guaranteed that in every spell there will be something potent, at least one ball that can shift even the most embedded master batsman. It will be intriguing to see whether Sri Lanka are ready, now buoyed after an encouraging start, to take the plunge. His exposure in Chennai, where conditions demanded gun-barrel straight bowlers, would have been a waste but Delhi may allow for some adventure.

We must also wait and see what happens to the middle order. Atapattu dropped down the order in Chennai to the No. 5 position, but this was surely injury-induced. Kumar Sangakkara thrives in the heat of battle and has more stamina than most. But asking him to open after keeping wicket so that Atapattu, a specialist batsman and world-class opener, could drop down into the middle order would be foolhardy. Sri Lanka need Atapattu to lead from the front in Delhi and produce one of his epic high-elbowed marathons.

Suddenly there is interest in the series back home. Prior to the first Test, the disappointment with the one-day series prompted widespread indifference to the series. But Chennai provided a flicker of hope that has re-ignited people's interest. Sri Lanka, despite missing one of their most talented soldiers, appear to be back on their feet. We now have a proper fight on our hands.