India v Sri Lanka, 2nd Test, Day 1- 5 Talking Points

Sri Lanka started fresh in the orange city, after a competitive overall performance in Kolkata. The visitors had piled up 151 runs for the loss of four wickets at tea on a green surface, and it looked like they will go on to post anything around 350 and challenge Virat Kohli and his men to apply themselves. But India kept things tight and the Lankan batters gave it away.

The visitors could only add 50 odd runs to that total as the pair of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja made life difficult for the batsmen, as they had to earn every single run. The Lankans got folded for 205 and the fans got to see India bat. Dinesh Chandimal top-scored with 57 and Dimuth Karunaratne made 51 for the visitors. But the drama wasn’t over as opener KL Rahul lost his wicket with India finishing at 11/1 on Day 1.

Ashwin-Jadeja back to picking wickets

The duo bowled well on a surface that had a cover of grass. Ashwin varied his length to perfection and got the ball to dip. Jadeja, on the other hand, kept rolling his arm, finishing his quota of overs at a quicker rate than his fellow teammates. He was rewarded for the same as the one to Angelo Mathews came sliding at him, making the umpire guess too. He picked 3 wickets for 56 runs in his 21 overs.

Ashwin picked his bunny Dimuth Thirimanne for a record 12^th time. And then got the wicket of the skipper Dinesh Chandimal (57). It looked like the fizz is back after a wicket-less game in Kolkata. He ended with 4/67.

Ishant Sharma sparkles on his comeback

The Delhi pacer replaced an injured Mohammed Shami for the Nagpur Test. Ishant Sharma was coming back from an impressive domestic season, where he picked up 20 wickets from his last 4 Ranji Trophy matches. He bowled a ‘Jaffa’ to dismiss Suranga Lakmal before earning the stick of Dimuth Karunaratne with sharp delivery.

The lanky pacer must have got back to the dressing room satisfied as his figures read 3/37 from 14 overs with three maidens and a lot of discipline.

Karunaratne’s fight, Chandimal’s fifty

Dimuth Karunaratne had lady luck shining bright on him as he was reprieved by Cheteshwar Pujara on one occasion and got stumped off Ravindra Jadeja’s no-ball in other instance. He failed to make most the two lives but provided Sri Lanka stability when needed the most. In the process, he became the only second opener after South Africa’s Dean Elgar to register 1000 runs as a Test opener in 2017.

Skipper Dinesh Chandimal timed the ball well and swept a few aways. The spin-twin- Ashwin and Jadeja didn’t provide any freebies to him and made him play a rash shot, but not before going past 3000 Test runs and a fifty to his name.

KL Rahul drags one to the stumps

With nine fifties in eleven innings, KL Rahul looked set to play out the remaining overs of the day just before stumps. He sent a tempting half-volley over the boundary and pushed a few balls gently to rotate the strike. But he missed one from Lahiru Gamage that angled in and then chopped one back to the stumps in the same over, as he departed scoring 7 off 13 balls.

India didn’t opt for a night watchman, and it was Cheteshwar Pujara who played out the rest of the overs along with Murali Vijay. The duo would love to bat for long on a Day 2 Indian wicket, and with nine century stands between them, it won’t be surprising to see a tenth one flushing out Sri Lanka’s hopes.

Rohit Sharma’s inclusion and a green track in Nagpur

The ongoing Test series has been seen as a practice tour as a build up for the South Africa series. Indian captain Virat Kohli has time and again said they are eyeing the away tour of Africa and the way India have been playing, you can’t just term them complacent.

Even before the start of play, India had bowled a googly in the face of Rohit Sharma’s inclusion for this game. Many believed that Vijay Shankar could have been drafted into the XI as he has done well in the domestic circuit, boasting of an impressive 50-plus average apart from his ability to send down few good overs. But it looked like an attempt to give Rohit some match practice on a green surface, as he struggles to put bat to ball when the bowl is swinging around. No matter what, a win here will silence everyone just like every time.