Saha's 'immeasurable' brilliance leaves the world gasping

When pitches start to wither, when the bounce gets fickle, when a ball throws up dust on hitting the turf, it is the batsmen you worry about. "Oooh" we go when one takes off past the shoulder of the bat or hurtles through at ankle height. The spinner has a mischievous grin, the batsman the look of a condemned man.

You don't think too much about the wicketkeeper though. The byes that result from a wicked surface go against his name and if he keeps a clean sheet, it doesn't stare at you from a scorecard a fortnight later. And yet, as much as the batsman almost, he has to combat the surface. If the batsman is beaten, he lives another day, if the 'keeper is beaten, it is four byes and slip looks at short leg with a twisted smile and a raised eyebrow.

I thought of that over the last couple of days of the Test match at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground in Colombo. Normally, the batsmen are on the guest list there. Hundreds are strewn around and if you are