India v Sri Lanka, 3rd Test, Day 2 - 5 talking points

Sri Lanka would have hoped to continue the momentum they had gained at the fag end of the opening day with twin strikes of Sandakan, but failed to show the required discipline with the ball early morning on Day 2 as the two overnight Indian batsmen marched on and guided the home team towards a huge score.

As the day unfolded, the spectators got to see some drama too as Cricket took backstage for a little while before India declared their innings under weird circumstances in the second session. All in all, it was a very interesting day of Test match cricket.

Here are 5 talking points of the day’s play

1. Kohli’s double hundred

Kohli didn’t take too much time in getting into his groove on day 2. He looked fluent right from the get go and went on to the complete his double hundred without any hiccups. It was his 2nd double hundred against Sri Lanka, while 6th overall in his career. He became the first player to score 6 double-hundreds as captain in test match Cricket.

2. Delhi’s smog

When the Sri Lankan players came onto the field after the lunch break, most of them had worn face masks which took everyone by surprise. There have been a lot of talks of late about Delhi’s weather and how the air pollution has gone up to an alarming level, still the first class matches have been held in the City this season and the players have gone through that without too much of discomfort.

However the Sri Lankan players seemed to be in a lot of discomfort at the start of the second session and despite wearing masks, they were having problems breathing. The visiting captain Dinesh Chandimal talked up the issue with the umpires and supposedly requested them to stop the play. However he failed to convince the umpires who didn’t think the weather was unplayable and thus the play went on.

3. India’s declaration

The way India were batting, they didn’t appear to be in a mood to declare as soon as they did. Their plan was perhaps to get to a score of 600-650 so that they don’t have to bat for the second time in the match. But the way things transpired with the Sri Lankan players making a big fuss out of the smog and showing reluctance to stay out there in the field citing health concerns, it annoyed the Indian captain Virat Kohli big time and he decided to declare the Indian innings all of a sudden to make sure the match goes on smoothly.

4. Shami’s fiery spell

Under the circumstances Virat Kohli declared the Indian innings, the Indian camp was not amused at all and they went out there to prove a point. Mohammad Shami ran in with his tail up and got the very first ball bang on at the right length. It rose from a length and surprised Dimuth Karunaratne who was probably not expecting that much of bounce and ended up edging it to the keeper. India couldn’t have had a better start than that as the whole team was pumped after getting that wicket. Virat Kohli, in particular, was over the moon as he gestured towards the Sri Lankan dressing room, perhaps to tell them that bowling was still possible in the smog.

5. India’s slip catching woes

Since some of the legends of Indian Cricket have retired, India have been struggling to find a settled slip cordon. Various players have been tried at the first and second slip positions, but nobody has been able to cement that spot yet. There have been far too many catches droped in that area and today was no exception. Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli dropped one apiece. While Dhawan’s drop didn’t prove to be too costly as Dilruwan Perera whom he had dropped was dismissed by Ravindra Jadeja shortly, the one Kohli dropped was an important one of Angelo Mathews who was still unbeaten at the end of the day’s play.