Sri Lanka v India, 1st Test, Day 4- 5 talking points

A dominant team India justified their number one position in the ICC Test Rankings by drawing first blood in the Test series against Sri Lanka. Virat Kohli and his men outclassed the hosts comprehensively in a one sided encounter.  Day 4 turned out to be a fruitful one for India as they bundled out the Sri Lankans for 245 runs, which was 304 runs short of their target.

The match has been an utterly disappointing one for the Lions as both their batting and bowling department failed to rise up to the occasion. To pile on the misery, they lost Asela Gunaratne for the rest of the series who fractured his thumb on the first day’s play. Stand-in skipper Rangana Herath also injured himself during the match which prevented him from coming out to bat. Here are 5 talking points from the 4^th day’s play which saw India go one ahead in the series:

1. Virat Kohli’s century

Indian skipper Virat Kohli finally stormed back to form with a much needed century. The batsman was going through a rough patch in his career as far as the longest version of the game is concerned. Kohli led by example on the 4^th day’s play as he played a flamboyant knock of 103 runs and remained unbeaten until the end. His gutsy inning helped India to put up a target of 550 runs making it an almost impossible task for the out of form Sri Lankans. Kohli’s hundred came after a low of 7 innings in Tests and will definitely work as a boost for the Indian batting order in the upcoming matches.

2. Dimuth Karunaratne and Niroshan Dickwella partnership.

Coming onto chase a record target of 550 runs, the Sri Lankans faltered again. With the experienced Upul Tharanga losing his wicket cheaply the Lions looked all set for a crushing defeat. When the wickets kept falling at regular intervals opener Dimuth Karunaratne (97) and Niroshan Dickwella (67) decided to take the responsibility on their shoulders. The two batsmen combined brilliantly to put up a 101 run partnership which took the score from 116/4 to 217. Just as it looked like the hosts have a faint ray of hope in the form of Gunaratne and Dickwella, the latter lost his wicket to Ravichandran Ashwin. However, their efforts deserve a lot of praise as the two stabilized the inning in a much-needed situation.

3. Dimuth Karunaratne inning

Opener Dimuth Karunaratne was the top scorer for the Sri Lankan side in the second inning with 97 runs to his name. His courageous inning came at a point when wickets were falling at regular intervals on the other end. The left handed batsman took the pressure upon himself and somewhat stabilized the innings staying on the pitch facing as many as 208 deliveries. Unfortunately, the only support came from Niroshan Dickwella but not for long. It was too big a task for the determined Karunaratne to pull off a mammoth total of 550 runs all by himself.

4. Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin pair clicked again

The pair of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, the number 1 and number 2 bowlers in the world respectively, rose up to the occasion again. Bagging three wickets each in the second inning, the duo was nearly back to their best as they rattled the Sri Lankan middle order at Colombo. Both the bowlers were subjected to a lot of criticism for their low key performances in the ICC Champions Trophy but it looks like that is the thing of the past. Ravichandran Ashwin, in particular, had been questioned because of his away form in Test cricket and the 4^th day turned out to be much of a relief for the master of the carrom ball.

5. India’s win

A brilliant start to the Sri Lanka tour for Virat Kohli and his men as they now lead the Test series 1-0. Team India showed the world once again why they are right at the top of the ICC test rankings with a massively dominating performance away from home. It should be noted that it was a pleasant start to Ravi Shastri’s second spell as Indian head coach. The coach-captain saga seems to have finally settled down with the team right back on the hunt. The Test also rediscovered Shikhar Dhawan as a Test batsman which is an absolute plus for India. To wrap it up India continue their extraordinary run in Test cricket under the captainship of Virat Kohli and will be the clear favourites going into the second match.