Mumbai: At 33, in his first Test match, he went wicketless for the first 18 overs of the innings. Not just that, he hadn’t bowled anywhere close to his potential. But, in the cut-throat world of Indian cricket, chances are precious. After all, Washington Sundar or Kuldeep Yadav could take his place if they were fit and available.
So, ahead of the start of play, Saransh Jain cannot be faulted if he wondered whether he would get another Test match or end up adding to the ignominious list of India’s one-Test wonders. Just the other day, leg-spinner Karn Sharma retired—he was handed his debut with much expectation by new captain Virat Kohli in 2014, but never played another Test.
But there’s one upside to being a late entrant to international cricket. You have seen many challenging days of toil before, albeit at a lower grade. The pitch at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground refused to break. That happens a lot in the Ranji Trophy too, and perhaps that is why Saransh, a veteran of 54 first-class matches, managed to flip the script on Day 4.
India was looking for quick wickets to enforce the follow on. Brought on to bowl, first thing in the morning with the second new ball to challenge Sri Lankan left-handers, the off-spinner reaped immediate rewards; almost. But DRS saved the in-form Sonal Dinusha as the fastish off-break was estimated to be going over the stumps. No luck yet, but the Madhya Pradesh spinner kept building pressure.
The seasoned spinner knew tail-enders tend to take their foot off the boil when achieving a milestone. Kumara had partnered Dinusha to help him to his hundred, but would soon end up succumbing to Saransh’s guile. He swung hard at a floated off-break, which ended up in Dhurv Jurel’s hands at point. By then, the debutant had truly found his bowling rhythm, the right bowling speeds. On cue, he got Dinusha caught at slip in a classic off-spinner’s dismissal.
No cerebral appeals, no fist pumping. In a business-as-usual fashion, Sarash got the job done to clean up Sri Lanka’s first innings. By doing the needful in quick time, Saransh had played his part in helping India enforce the follow-on and stay on course for a clean sweep.
But there was more work to do in the second innings and at one stage the counter attack from the Sri Lankan middle order was threatening. The hosts were posing a much difficult question to India’s relatively inexperienced spin-attack – if they had the potency to keep pegging away with wickets on a pitch which turned ever so slowly.
But Manav Suthar’s twin breakthroughs in the final session of play followed up by another trick up Saransh’s alley – the arm ball to left-handed Niroshan Dickwella helped India wrest the momentum back in their favour.
As far as debuts go, this has by no means been spectacular for the Indore-born spinner. His over-spin delivery for the highest level is still a work in progress. But on the notoriously slow surface at Colombo, Saransh showed enough versatility and asked searching questions of Sri Lanka’s left-hand heavy batting lineup, which is why he was selected.
“For me, Saransh has toiled a lot in domestic cricket and got his due,” India’s spin bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule said, having himself experienced the vagaries of cricket – he played his second Test match at SSC in 2001, and never again.
“There are nerves. It isn’t easy playing your first international game compared to a domestic game. In spite of not getting early wickets, Saransh showed character. I think he put in a fabulous effort, picked up wickets and got us back in the game.”