India opener Gautam Gambhir batted in the nets on Sunday but his participation in the second Test isnt certain. A niggle in the knee has been troubling him and so Murali Vijay,the third opener in the side,practiced for two hours on the centre-wicket,just in case he has to walk out with Virender Sehwag on Monday. With Sundays training session being optional,off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh too didnt arrive at the Sinhalese Sports Club. Harbhajan,though,will be key in the second Test,as the spinner will have the responsibility of leading the bowling attack which is short on experience. In the first game,he was recovering from a bout of flu and didnt look at his best. He finished with 0 for 98 after Sri Lanka won the toss and then declared at 520 for eight,and coach Gary Kirsten had admitted he was only about 80 per cent fit. India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni suggested on the eve of the game that India would play three seamers and one frontline spinner if India pre-plan to bowl first and a two-two combination if they decide the other way. Whichever combination Dhoni decides on,though,Harbhajan will be central to the plans. The off-spinner,however,hasnt had the best outing in Sri Lanka in the past. In eight Tests he has one five-wicket haul,in the Galle Test in 2008 when he took 10 in all,and averages 43.08 in the Island nation,compared to his overall career average of 31.28. In all away games,the off-spinner has a slightly better average of 38.61,which points to the fact that the Sri Lankans have,more often than not,played him comfortably. India will be hoping that they win the toss and bat first. This will only help Harbhajan because he is not at his best when he has to bowl first on a Day One wicket. His average in such innings is 40.05. In the first Test,with Harbhajan looking out of sorts and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha not even been able to bowl to the field that was set for him,India struggled to take control of the game after Sri Lanka elected to bat first. If the toss of the coin goes Sri Lankas way,it could be an uphill task for the Indian bowling attack. Someone like Mahela Jayawardene averages almost 80 with the bat at this ground. Captain Kumar Sangakkara is capable of batting for long hours and so is Thilan Samaraveera,who had hurt his finger but is said to be fit after taking catches during practice. The pace attack led by Ishant Sharma and rookie Abhimanyu Mithun also struggled for large periods during the first Test. If Dhoni plays a three pacers-one spinner combination,Munaf Patel will enter the equation but it isnt clear what form he will be in coming into this Test. Harbhajan has in the past delivered when all seemed lost,most recently in the Kolkata Test against South Africa,when he took five wickets in the second innings to bowl the team to a thrilling win and help them retain the No. 1 ranking. Then,he had delivered when Zaheer Khan was incapacitated and didnt bowl on the last day. Now,once again with Indias No.1 ranking under threat,Harbhajan Singh will have to bowl his heart out and will need the other bowlers to back him.
