Mendis floats, Murali stings

Then there were others who were dismissive of the Mendis hype and spoke about the short lifespan of bizarre bowlers. They predicted this rare cricketing novelty would be in vogue for maybe a Test, a series or at best a season. When Mendis’s middle finger got compared to past players such as Gleeson and Iverson, these well-informed critics had a question ready: Do you know how many Tests Gleeson or Iverson played? In an era of frame-by-frame software dissection, Mendis wasn’t given a chance.

After Mendis’s first day on the field as a Test cricketer, the no-contest predictors are tongue-tied while those with the he’ll-be-sorted stance are silent but still manage a glum ‘wait and watch’ retort.

Mendis finished the day with figures of 18-3-58-1, numbers much inferior to the original freak Muttiah Muralitharan’s 15-3-38-4. Mendis got just one wicket but his 18-over unchanged spell showed he can ensure silence is maintained from his end while the master is at work.

After bowling a few full tosses in the initial overs while trying to get the loopy leg-spinners right, Mendis concentrated mainly on his two stock balls to tie down the Indian batsmen. And it wasn’t easy being an Indian batsman today.

One minute they were busy reading Mendis’s hand to see if this was the ball pushed by the middle finger that would accelerate after pitching and move to the right. The next minute they faced someone who they had grown up reading, but still hadn’t totally interpreted. They might have even succeeded in reading Murali from the hand but there was still prodigious spin to deal with. Despite their extensive homework, it was a tough ‘spin class’ today that was beyond the understanding of even the best students of the game.

The moment of the Test so far was the Rahul Dravid dismissal. The first ball of Mendis’s fourth over saw the highly avoidable nostalgia of the Asia Cup final as the ‘man with many turns’ jumped in the air with delight.

In Mendis’s previous over, Dravid...