The last time India toured Sri Lanka, not so long ago, all conversation revolved around how the batsmen would tackle freak spinner Ajantha Mendis. And while he was something of an unknown quantity then, this time around, the Indian camp is sounding more confident of tackling the bowler.

“We don’t need to worry too much about Mendis,” Mahendra Singh Dhoni said after the team’s arrival in Colombo on Monday. He also pointed out that they had done a fair job against him in the one-dayers.

“We just need to play according to what we see is coming out of his hand. We want the individuals to be careful and cautious and I want them to play him and Murali the way they played them in the last one-day series,” he said.

He breaks into a grin when someone refers to him as Padma Shri Mahendra Singh Dhoni. “It’s a big award for me and brings with it a bigger sense of responsibility,” he said.

“I try to enjoy my captaincy in Tests and ODIs but you don’t enjoy it every time because it’s tough and you are playing at the highest level.

“The good thing is I’ve got a good side that automatically takes the pressure off me.”

Inexperienced spinners

He also expressed confidence in his inexperienced spin attack in the absence of Harbhajan Singh on wickets that are expected to suit the spinners. “Harbhajan has been the pick of our spinners. We will miss him. But we have two spinners in the side — (Pragyan) Ohja and (Ravindra) Jadeja. They will try to fill in, and we have part-time options as well. One positive is that they will get assistance from the pitch. It’s a fair opportunity for both of them to prove themselves.”

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