Sangakara Vs Dhoni

India Vs Sri Lanka Test series

First test: India won the toss and batted first, India were 32/4 when the Wall came to rescue and scored 177. The Indian captain posted a ton to keep the game alive. India’s total was 426 and the Sri Lankan team easily surpassed the score and posted a mammoth 760/7. For India Second Innings was all about the rescue act and saving the game as the pitch was still intact on day 5 and India just did that. The game ended in a draw with India 412/4

Dhoni scored a century in spite being a lower-middle order batsmen and kept wickets.
Sangakara hardly scored in spite of being one of the top order batsmen and did not keep wickets, Knowing that he is the best wicket keeper for SL he should have kept wickets. Prasana Jayawardene (Wicket keeper) did poorly and dropped a vital catch that was actually going to Mahela Jayawardene at 1st slip. P Jayawardene also did not attempt a catch that went between him and the 1st slip. He was also poor in keeping the balls that went to his left.

Second Test: India won the toss and elected to bat and Posted a huge score of 642. By the end of the second day the wicket started to disintegrate and caused a lot of issues to the Sri Lankan Batsmen. With just scoring a meager 229 in their first innings, they were forced to follow on. Their second inning was no better than their first and scored only 269 and losing the game by an inning and 144 runs.

Dhoni kept wickets. He had attacking field setup throughout the game. The main thing was the team selection. He got 3 Pacers and 2 spinners. The inclusion of S Sreeshant was vital as he picked a 5 wicket haul in the first inning
Sangakara did not keep wickets and did not score well. His team selection included 2 seamers who were not very fast and 3 spinners. Come on man that’s silly, every one knows that the batsmen form the subcontinent play spin very well. For most of the game, he had a very defensive field set up and the Lankans were too worried about the pitch. Prasana Jayawardane missed a vital catch this match too, that too of Shewag when he was at 0. Shewag went ahead and scored a century.

Third Test: Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat and posted a total 393. India batting second is already way past it and has a healthy lead of 230 and counting.
The previous test India batted first and the Lankans blamed the pitch; they felt it was not suitable for batting from day three. This pitch may have not been the same like the Green Park Kanpur pitch, but India just lost one wicket when the surpassed the Sri Lankan tally of 393 and also gave a lead of 50 in the very same day with a just a loss of one wicket.
So I suggest Lanka not to worry too much about the pitch. (I know it’s not their home ground unlike it is for Indians). If India can score 443 on a day 2 pitch and Lanka can only score 370 odd in day 1 pitch, with India playing fewer overs than SL, SL should not blame the pitch.

Dhoni’s attitude: Dhoni was not bothered about the win that will fetch India the No.1 slot. So, he kept his mind cool and could think about his field placing and bowler regulation even while keeping wickets
Sangakara’s attitude: He had a big responsibility of breaking the jinx; Sri Lanka has not won a test match on Indian soil for a very long time. He couldn’t think of options when Shewag was sending the ball all throughout the park. He was not even keeping wickets, he must think better and try to make better use of his resources as he is got the Second best team in the World while Dhoni has just got the third best team in the World.

Interesting fact about Dhoni : has captained 10 matches and yet to loose a match.

When Sehwag wags his bat

Day 2 of the 3rd test between India and Sri Lanka saw a blistering performance by Sehwag’s who got to his double century in lightning speed, this is his 6th test double hundred and the first by any Indian batsmen. Sehwag who opened the innings with his new partner Murali Vijay was unbeaten at 284 runs off 239 balls by the end of day’s play. Sehwag whacked 40 boundaries and 7 sixers in his knock, allowing India to ease past the Sri Lankan total of 393. It seemed like a day of breaking records.

At the end of the day, India were 443/1 in 79 overs with a runrate of 5.61.

Day 3, Sehwag fell 7 runs short of his third triple century. With every hour there were records being shattered, with the 7 more runs Sehwag could have broken many more records. However, he has put India in the driving seat, to go ahead and win the game and continue their dream run, and also acquire their number one spot which they have been hunting for quite some time now.

A very interesting fact:

Previous to the second test, Sehwag’s last 11 centuries were above 150 runs, no one has ever done this. Last match Sri Lankans stopped his run when they got him out in 130s. This match his century is again gone past the 150 mark. If he could have just managed to pull the 150 in the previous match, his record would still be piling.

Records

Only Batsmen to share 200 plus runs partnership with both 1st wicket and 2nd wicket in the same innings and that too he has achieved this twice.
Highest individual score in Brabourne, Mumbai (surpassing Vinoo Mankad’s 233 odd runs scored in the late 50s)
First Indian to score 6 double centuries.
First Indian to score 2 double centuries against SL (no Indian has managed to score even one)
First Indian to score 250 or more in 4 innings.
First Indian to score 200 in boundaries (40x4 , 7x6)
Second Fastest double century (168 balls)
Third highest individual score in a single day (284)