Sun, Jul 25 10 05:27 PM
T V Sriram Colombo, Jul 25 (PTI) The dreaded duo of Lasith Malinga and Muttiah Muralitharan would be missing from the Sri Lankan bowling attack but Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni today said their absence does not make his batsmen''s job any easy in the second cricket Test starting here tomorrow. Pacer Malinga and off-spin genius Muralitharan shared 15 of the 20 Indian wickets among them and played a major role in inflicting a crushing 10-wicket defeat on the visitors in the first Test in Galle. Malinga has been ruled of the match due to a knee injury and Muralitharan has just retired from Test cricket. "Nothing is easy in international cricket. You may miss the most experienced bowler but at the same time there will be a youngster standing up saying that I will try to fill in the shoes and he may be a good talent," Dhoni said at the pre-match press conference. "So it is not about whom you are missing and that which matter is who is filling in the gap and who will be doing the job for you." Ajantha Mendis, who was India''s tormentor in the last tour, will replace Muralitharan but Dhoni was confident of taking on the dangerous mystery spinner. Mendis had also taken six wickets during India''s only practice game ahead of the Test series but Dhoni said his batsmen have got the measure of the bowler by playing against him consistently. "There is definitely more exposure. Most of the cricketers who were part of the side have played him in the past quite a few times. So that really helps them in judging what kind of variation he has got. What is the kind of line he looks to bowl and the general strategy as well. I think it will be an interesting face off between the batting and the bowlers. .
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