Series Won, Concerns Remain

India has won the Test series against Sri Lanka, thanks to a superb all-round performance by the team. Sri Lanka had no answers to the guiles of the wily Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. None of the Lankan batsmen got the measure of the Indian spin-twins and their batting line-up, shaky as it is with the absence of Sanath Jayasuriya, fell like nine-pins, so much so that the unjustified absence of Zaheer Khan was never felt. As Irfan Pathan and Mahendra Singh Dhoni continue to shine as all-rounders, India still has problems at the top of the batting order, with Gautam Gambhir failing to come out of the one-day mode, and Virender Sehwag failing to deliver once too often. Wasim Jaffer, after a string of impressive outings at the domestic level, should be considered for the Tests against England and Pakistan, and Sourav Ganguly should be recalled to replace the disappointing Mohammad Kaif. It remains to be seen whether Team India goes in for the surprise element in Rudra Pratap Singh, or falls back on the experience of Zaheer Khan, for the upcoming Tests.