S. Rajesh in ESPNcricinfo, 1 September 2011
Murali etching by Joe Hoad
Pic from Daily Mirror
after Murai’s last Test Match in Galle
and Dav Whatmore congratulating Murali –as so often
For overseas teams, batting in Sri Lanka has surely been one of the more challenging assignments of recent years. Battling an army of spinners in conditions suited perfectly to slow bowling is an examination that several competent batsmen have failed to pass, but things just might be getting easier for them now, with Muttiah Muralitharan no longer around to torment them. It’s been a little more than a year since Murali retired, and Sri Lankaare still searching for their first Test win post Murali. They won the last Test he played, thrashing India by 10 wickets in Galle, with Murali himself taking eight to reach the 800-wicket milestone, but since then things haven’t been as rosy. After managing 614 runs in two innings of that Galle Test, India scored 707 in a single innings in the second Test, and then won the third to level the series.