Here is a look on how India and Sri Lanka players fared during the third and final Test at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.

INDIA

Murali Vijay- 8

The Tamil Nadu opener made most of the chance he got a year since making his Test debut against Australia last year. A fluent 87 and a 221 run partnership with Virender Sehwag set the tone for a massive Indian score.

Virender Sehwag – 10

Batting like a man possessed, Sehwag knocked the Sri Lankans out of the Test by the end of the second day. He may have missed out on scripting history but such was his impact that Muttiah Muralitharan looked like a club class bowler on a Braborne wicket that had substantial assistance for spinners. Once Sehwag departed for 293, the wicket started looking like a different turf altogether.

Rahul Dravid- 8

The Wall was at it again. He came in to bat on the second day with India well placed at 221 for one but there was still a job to be done. Dravid not only carried on from his second hundred of the series at Kanpur but kept the strike rotating at the other end with Sehwag going on a rampage. A solid 74 runs helped India get past Sri Lanka’s daunting first innings 393 on the second day itself.

Sachin Tendulkar- 7

The Little Master announced his arrival at the crease with a flurry of boundaries off Muttiah Muralitharan and took his feet off the accelerator only after he had sent the Sri Lankans on a trance once again after Sehwag fell early on the third morning. Tendulkar went on to score 53 and made sure India did not lose the momentum.

VVS Laxman- 7

India’s second Test specialist (after Dravid) may not have played a lot of cricket this year but he was in sublime touch through the series. Alongwith Tendulkar, Laxman was instrumental in keeping the heat on Sri Lanka with a determined 62, which came off only 91 balls.

Yuvraj Singh- 5

Yuvi was the only top order batsman to miss out but he had already played his part in the series with some stunning performances in the previous two Tests.
 
MS Dhoni- 10

Even as many wondered why India were not declaring towards the end of the third day, Dhoni knew he had a task at hand. The Indian captain virtually batted with the tail and shielded them from strike after his association with Zaheer Khan came to an end. When number 11, Pragyan Ojha walked into the crease, Dhoni was still about 50 runs short of his third hundred, which he brought on with a six off Rangana Herath. Of course, Dhoni was brilliant as captain and behind the stumps.

Harbhajan Singh- 7

The feisty off-spinner grabbed four wickets in Sri Lanka’s first innings to restrict the visitors, who were propelled by a Dilshan ton. Bhajji got the ball to turn and bounce and troubled the opposition with some genuine off-spin.

Zaheer Khan – 9

Zaheer roared back to form with a five wicket haul in the second innings to wrap things up in double quick time. The left arm seamer bowled with precision and a lot of aggression and his delivery to dismiss Kumar Sangakkara in the first over of the day set things in perspective.

Pragyan Ojha- 6

Playing only his second Test, the young left arm spinner from Hyderabad showed a lot of maturity and played the perfect foil to Harbhajan Singh. Ojha’s five wickets in the match helped India bowl out Sri Lanka twice on a good Test match pitch and made it .

S Sreesanth- 5

Sreesanth may not have replicated his stunning return to Test cricket in Kanpur last week but he did manage to make some crucial breakthroughs, especially when he snared Mahela Jayawardene in the second innings and brought to an end a solid resistance by Tharanga Paranavitana.

SRI LANKA

Tharanga Paranavitana- 7

The southpaw was up to the task in both innings, scoring contrasting half-centuries. While the first one came to dominate India, the solid 54 in the second innings was gutsy effort to try and delay the inevitable.

Tillekaratne Dilshan- 7

Dilshan’s stunning hundred in the first innings did hand Sri Lanka the initiative, which Sehwag quickly snatched. However, the right-handed opener would be ruing his luck, getting raw deals from the umpires in both the innings when his stay at the wicket was cut short by ridiculous decisions.

Kumar Sangakkara- 7

The skipper looked disoriented through the three Tests and only came to his own in the second innings in Mumbai when his team needed him to bat for his life. Sanga pulled up all the tricks from his bag to bring up his 21st hundred but that was not going to be enough. His captaincy was alarmingly defensive and unimaginative.

Mahela Jayawardene- 4

The elegant right handed batsman never got into the groove again after that sensational 275 in the first Test. Mahela was troubled by the spinners, the seamers and struggled to get his acts right in Mumbai. He was disappointing.

Thilan Samaraweera- 4

This was a Test Samaraweera would like to forget in a hurry. Scores of 1 and 0 hardly helped Sri Lanka’s cause, who were trying to save the match after being put on the mat by Sehwag.

Angelo Mathews- 6

The all-rounder missed out on what would have been his maiden Test hundred but his 99 came in quick time and his partnership with Prasanna Jayawardene meant Sri Lanka were actually staring at a good, healthy total. However, he did not do much besides that in the match.

Prasanna Jayawardene- 6

The wicketkeeper batsman did well with the bat in the series and played his part in the final Test as well but was guilty of throwing his wicket away after being well set in the first innings. Prasanna should have carried on for a little longer to help Mathews reach his hundred the next day.

Nuwan Kulasekara- 4

It was not a very pleasant return to the Test team for the former world number one bowler but he could be forgiven for lack of match practice and running into Sehwag in such belligerent mood.

Rangana Herath - 4

The left arm spinner gave away 250 runs for his three wickets but he did try. Herath tried to get some purchase out of the wicket but India’s batsmen were in terrific touch. There is little he could have done, really.

Muttiah Muralitharan- 5

The highest wicket taker in Tests looked ordinary though he took four wickets. Murali went for runs and did not command much respect from any of India’s batsmen, who had seemed to got a hang of the master.

Chanaka Welegedera- 4

After nearly running through the Indian batting side on the first morning of the series, Welegedra was soon put in place by the hosts. Just one wicket (of Rahul Dravid) did his figures no good and the left arm seamer was made to look ordinary on a good deck.

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