Colombo: Having just led Sri Lanka to a memorable innings and 239-run win, Mahela Jayawardene could afford to crack a joke.

“Who’ll pay me for translating? You (the media) or him (Ajantha Mendis)?” Mahela asked when a request was made that he act as interpreter for Lanka’s newest sporting hero.

Anil Kumble, on the other hand, was upset beyond words. He had good reasons — among others, the second innings total of 138 (in 45 overs and in a shade over three hours) is now the lowest against Lanka.

So furious was the Team India captain that, while walking to his seat for the media conference, he personally switched off a TV showing the highlights of a disastrous first Test.

Clearly, the rout — within four days at that — turned out to be too much. There’s no shame in losing after making the opposition stretch every sinew, but it’s crushing when a Test is simply gifted.

Perhaps the three-match series for the Idea Cup has itself gone.

After Lanka declared at 600 for six, India’s first innings began at 1.48 pm on Friday, Day III. By 3.58 pm on Saturday, though, the Test was over at the Sinhalese Sports Club.

Fit for Ripley’s Believe It or Not. Some, however, would argue there’s no point being startled as the Indians are prone to dismal starts in most series.

Whatever, unless a solution is found over the next few days, the doosras and the carrom ball-deliveries from MoM Muttiah Muralidharan and Mendis, respectively, will continue to torment.

They took 19 wickets, starting a partnership that has given a distinctly more potent dimension to the Lankan attack. Moreover, coaches everywhere must be scrambling to lay their hands on footage especially featuring Mendis.

A champion bowler for over a decade (also the most successful in Tests), Murali returned match figures of 11 for 110 (six for 26 in the second innings). He’s been a Test MoM 19 times and has a mind-boggling 21 hauls of 10 or more wickets.

What a CV!

As for Mendis, recently promoted as a Second-Lieutenant by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, he finished with eight for 132, the best by a Lankan debutant.

It’s strange that while the world believes the Indians are best equipped to tackle spinners, our batters themselves don’t have that belief.

Of course, with a Sachin Tendulkar and a Rahul Dravid each having over 10,000 runs, there’s every chance that a way out technique-wise could be found quickly.

That would be great, but the fear is that the psychological damage caused by such a crushing defeat could take long to heal. By then, the series may well be over.

“We need to regroup, we do plan. When things don’t go our way people think there is no plan in place. It is the same process. Obviously we need to look at our strategy in handling Murali and Mendis. We have to be a little more positive,” acknowledged Kumble.

The captain, who went wicketless, accepted he hadn’t been at his best.

It’s not that Kumble didn’t compliment the Lankans, though: “They bowled exceptionally well.” In much the same breath, he disagreed with a suggestion that his batters had focused on Mendis and neglected ways to neutralise Murali.

Bottomline is that both couldn’t be handled.

Just to rub it in, Mahela remarked he’d been confident that the Test would end on Saturday. Speaks volumes for the faith he has in his bowlers. After all, India’s first innings hadn’t even ended.

Resuming at 159 for six, V.V.S. Laxman and the tail were able to take the total to 223. Following-on, Virender Sehwag was back in the pavilion (courtesy a very tight referral-driven leg-before decision) in the lead-up to lunch and the slide had begun.

Given that he’d top-scored (56), Laxman was promoted to No.3. But if Kumble and Gary Kirsten were hoping for an Eden Gardens repeat, they were in for a disappointment.

Worse, that decision appeared to affect Dravid’s confidence even more as he ended up coming at No.5 and didn’t quite look as if he was up for it. Dravid again became a Mendis victim, sixth out at 103.

Sachin (falling to a paddle-sweep), Gautam Gambhir (stepping out and being beaten by a beauty) and Sourav Ganguly (a pretty soft dismissal) were the ones dismissed after Laxman and before Dravid.

Sourav and Dravid, in fact, fell at the same score and the possibility of a finish within four days became all too real.

The end, as it turned out, came not long afterwards.

Asked by The Telegraph to rate this win, Mahela laughed and replied: “It’s among the top ones... It’s difficult giving it a specific ranking because all Test wins are very special... However, taking all the factors into account, I’d say it’s in the top bunch...”

The winning captain was presented a bottle of champagne and made to cut a chocolate cake on returning to the Taj Samudra. Mendis too was given a bottle of bubbly.

All richly deserved, one may add.

Footnote: Murali’s credentials as a bowler are well known. On Saturday evening, the great offie showed he could be refreshingly frank as well. Asked what kept driving him, he listed three things: Hunger for wickets, financial security and his love for the game. Well, let there be more like him — on and off the field.