Former India coach and 1983 World Cup winner Madan Lal has dismissed Ajantha Mendis as a big threat in the Test series.

By Rajarshi Gupta

Speaking exclusively to espnstar.com, Madan Lal said India's Test batting line up has enough ammunition to counter Mendis.

"India's batting should tackle him. Suddenly, we are talking of Mendis as if he is a big threat. Let us not forget Muttiah Muralitharan would be a much more difficult proposition to handle."

The former seamer opined it would be much safer picking Mendis off the hands than off the surface.

"Trying to pick him off the surface might be too late. It is a much safer bet reading him off the hands."

His logic holds solid ground: "Murali has been around for more than a decade and has troubled batsmen all round the globe on all kinds of wickets."

"Mendis is a new kid on the blocks. These days, there are so many video analysis and with India's batting strength, he shouldn't be much of a trouble."

"I mean let us not lose our focus on Murali. He is a huge turner of the ball on any given track. I would say he would be a more difficult customer to contain with than Mendis."

"We have a great team for Test matches. The likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman have been around for a long time and they know what they are doing on the field."

India's ODI skipper MS Dhoni had also said the 'Big Four' of Indian batting would demolish Mendis. Madan Lal echoed his views.

He said the problem with modern day cricketers is that they play a lot of cricket, which does not leave them any time to sort out their problems. So one could understand Dhoni's decision to rest for the Test series.

"Dhoni has had a very hectic schedule since last year. He has been leading his team, keeping wickets and batting, getting runs consistently. So he definitely deserves a break."

"He could use the time to reflect on the decisions he made on the field and his own game, maybe. There are so many things players do in these breaks and they come back even stronger."

Madan Lal felt the current crop of India's batsmen do not play spin well at all: "In my opinion, Yuvraj Singh does not play spin well at all. These current batsmen do not negotiate spinners nicely."

Come to think of it, gone are the days in Indian batting when any spinner of any hue and coulour would be torn apart in his very first spell. Back in 1998, Navjyot Singh Sidhu, took on Shane Warne on a crumbling Chennai pitch and stunned the great leg spinner into submission.

Then came Tendulkar in the second innings of the same Test match and repeatedly tonked Warne against the spin, even as he kept pitching it outside leg stump from around the stumps, getting the ball to turn square.

Madan Lal, who coached India with distinction for a while said the team should go in with a proper bowling line up, that would concentrate more on pace rather than outright spin.

"What if you lose the toss on and Sri Lanka opt to bat? The pitch would not start turning from the first day. That is when you would need your pacers to get you the breakthroughs. In fact, I would still say India should go in with five bowlers, three pacers and two spinners."

"Fast bowlers have a much better chance of winning you matches than spinners. You can keep on rotating the seamers for short spells and if the wickets suit them, they will get you wickets and rattle the opposition up."

"With the kind of batting line up we have, we can easily go in with six batsmen. Whether India play Dinesh Karthik or Parthiv Patel as the keepers, I am sure the would do well with the bat. Both are quality batsmen."