India missed out on a great opportunity to throw Sri Lanka totally out of the first Test at Galle on Sunday but thanks to a collapse that saw them lose four important wickets for just 70 runs, the hosts got back into the contest in style on day two.
The wickets of Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul particularly dented India’s aspirations. Pant started from his overnight score of 27 as India resumed day two on 288/2, looking good for a mammoth total upwards of 500. Yes, the pitch was not exactly friendly to batting on Sunday on account of the rains but it wasn’t, by any means, spitting venom.
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Pant was again victim to his impulses. There was no need for him to go aerial. In the recent past, so many times he has got out in a similar fashion. With that shot off debutant spinner Keshara Nuwantha into the hands of Sonal Dinusha wide of long-on, he has now put himself under more pressure. Test cricket is all he has got now as far as international cricket is concerned. Had he stayed longer, things could have been different for him and the team. His shot selection has been called out in the past, particularly by India great Sunil Gavaskar, but he continues the same way.
KL Rahul, who had gone back retired hurt after suffering cramps on Saturday, returned to bat after the fall of Pant but he hit Nuwantha straight into the hands of short leg. The fielder was placed there especially for that shot, and the Indian opener played straight into the Sri Lankans’ hands. He scored just five today; Pant 12.
Those two quick wickets really derailed India. If not for Dhruv Jurel’s 51 and his 55-run partnership with Manav Suthar for the seventh wicket, things could have gone totally out of hand for the visitors.
The Galle pitch historically plays really well for the first few days before it turns completely erratic. India’s best chance was to score 500 plus and then put pressure on the Lankan batters, who are a force to reckon with at home. After the first day, the visitors were in the driver’s seat to all intents and purposes; however, on Sunday, they gave Sri Lanka a massive sniff. A team that is aiming to reach the final of the World Test Championship should know better.
Jurel was speaking from experience!
Jurel, who was part of the India A squad in June-July in Sri Lanka and got a century and a fifty in three first-class innings there, spoke to the media at the end of the day’s play, and he minced no words. He said the nature of the pitch was going to change all the time according to the weather conditions, which basically means if there is no rain tomorrow and as a result there is no moisture in the pitch, Sri Lanka’s batsmen can really make merry. He added — and that sounded a bit alarming, if truth be told — that the Indian bowlers, particularly the spin trio of Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Manav Suthar, will have to bowl long spells like Prabath Jayasuriya and Nuwantha. To sum it up, he said it was going to be hard work.