Bayliss won’t take India for granted
Muttiah Muralitharan has expressive eyes and a pleasant disposition, but generally, he keeps away from outward shows of emotion after hunting batsmen down.
On Wednesday, after cleaning up Abhimanyu Mithun to complete his 67th five-for in Tests, the ace offie allowed himself a rare public show of emotion, throwing his arms up in jubilation and savouring the moment.
This is, after all, his farewell Test, and what better way to bow out than with a bang?!
The great competitor returned to dismiss Yuvraj Singh in India’s second innings to leave himself tantalisingly placed on 798 Test wickets, needing two of the remaining five sticks to leave the stage with a phenomenal 800 scalps in the longer version.
“It’s the first time I've seen Murali showing a bit of emotion after taking those five wickets,” coach Trevor Bayliss, who has been with the team since the 2007 World Cup, acknowledged. “Throwing his arms in the air... I'm sure he's happy with the way he's gone so far in the match.”
The 800-mark has been the topic of some discussion in this part of the world. “From Murali's point, we'd all love him to get those two,” Bayliss remarked. “If you ask him, he’d want to get all five wickets. We'd love him to get at least two of those five. It’s gonna be some tough work, because we've got two good batters at the wicket.”
The Australian shied away from a debate on whether Murali was calling it quits early. “It's obviously his call, he's made a decision. Obviously he knows how his body feels. Personally, I feel he's made the right call.”
Bayliss refused to take anything for granted, though India need 63 more runs to avoid an innings defeat with just five wickets left. “Nothing's easy with this Indian team,” he said. “We've had a good day and we're very happy with the position we're in. There's still some hard work to be done. On the weather side of things, we’ve been lucky and hopefully, tomorrow will be the same.”
Lasith Malinga has made an immediate impact on his return to Test cricket for the first time since December 2007. “He's our number one fast bowler,” Bayliss proclaimed. “We're really into playing at home. Anyone who plays at home feels different. It's well known that touring India is one of the hardest tours in the world and I thought we played pretty well there. We didn't do as badly as the scoreline (0-2) suggested. Here, we're at home and it's obviously a bit different for the Indians. And having Lasith is a big bonus as well.”
