When there were ten ducks in the two Sri Lankan innings in a Test against India?
(10 Aug 2001)

Even the best of batsmen fail to open their account in Test cricket. And two or three ducks in a Test match is probably par for the course. But when there are ten ducks in a Test match, then it is time to sit up and take proper notice of what happened.

What happened during the Test match under consideration - the one off Test between India and Sri Lanka at Chandigarh in November 1990 - is that it was played on a dreadful surface. And India, enjoying the advantage of batting first, probably did well in getting 288. But in a way the Indians led the way for the `duck brigade'' that followed. For, the last two batsmen Gopal Sharma and Narendra Hirwani failed to trouble the scorers.

But things became really rough for the batsmen when the Sri Lankans batted. The wicket deteriorated and left arm spinner Venkatpathi Raju ran through the visitors' batting. As many as five Lankans - Tillekeratne, Atapattu, Ratnayake, Labrooy and Warnaweera - failed to score as the team were shot out for 82. Following on, the team did better before being all out for 198 and losing by an innings and eight runs. But again five batsmen failed to score. Atapattu, Ratnayake and Labrooy got a pair while Gurusinha, who top scored in the first innings with a heroic unbeaten 52, was this time out for a duck. Last man Warnaweera remained not out with zero.

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