KANPUR, India, (Reuters) – Sri Lanka will need  Muttiah Muralitharan to rediscover his rhythm in the final test  in Mumbai if they are to come back from a humbling defeat  against India and square the series.

The 37-year-old Muralitharan, the world record holder for  most test wickets, took only two for 175 in Kanpur as India  completed victory by an innings and 144 runs to take a 1-0 lead.

His performance in the drawn first test was unremarkable  too, with his three wickets costing over 73 runs apiece and  skipper Kumar Sangakkara needs his star spinner in more  threatening form.

“It does become a concern if he is not picking up the  wickets you know he can,” Sangakkara said after India had  wrapped up their win yesterday.

“But he is your star bowler and you back him to do it sooner  than later.”

He added: “We’ve still got a lot of action in Mumbai. We can  still square the series and that is motivation enough.”

India can replace South Africa at the top of the world  rankings if they complete a 2-0 win but skipper Mahendra Singh  Dhoni has urged his players to forget the ranking and  concentrate on their consistency.

“Everything went perfectly well for us,” he told reporters  after India’s 100th test win.

“It (the top ranking) will be an added responsibility,” he  added. “Becoming the number one side is not important. We’ve to  maintain our performance level.”