You can pencil in an A+ for bouncebackability on the Indian report card. Necessary changes to the team followed by intelligent batting and disciplined bowling have helped India conjure up a sterling response to the gut-wrenching defeat in the first Test.
At stumps on Day Three, a lead of 157 runs with nine wickets in hand had put the visitors firmly in control. Considering India are not batting last, this is an even more dominant position than the one they found themselves in a week ago at Galle. Once again, unless the weather intervenes, nothing other than a win will be acceptable back home.
All-round resurgence
The most heartening aspect of the display thus far has been the contribution from previously ailing or uncertain quarters. It has been a refreshingly collective performance. Players – or positions for that matter – with question marks against them have made an impact in some form or the other.
In the previous Test, there were too many passengers. Rohit Sharma was a waste of space. Harbhajan Singh cut an uninspiring figure. Varun Aaron was all over the place. Lokesh Rahul flopped twice. Ishant Sharma failed to inspire. And even Amit Mishra was just passable. That’s six out of 11 players.
Skipper Virat Kohli wrung in the changes for the Colombo Test: Stuart Binny for Harbhajan, Umesh Yadav for Aaron, and Rohit bumped down to number five in the order. The results have been positive. The batsmen went about their task in steady partnerships to rebuild from a shaky start, while the bowlers bowled as a unit, with patience and discipline, to carve out a potentially decisive first-innings advantage.
The Ishant Sharma show
On Day Three when Sri Lanka were gradually taking command of the Test having scored over 100 runs without losing a wicket, Ishant sprung into life. Angelo Mathews and Lahiru Thirimanne had seen off the first round of attack from all the Indian bowlers with relative ease.
However, the lofty pacer returned to find Thirimanne’s edge from around the wicket. It was a deserved wicket too. He had troubled the same batsman earlier in the day without much reward. He then greeted Dinesh Chandimal – Man of the Match in the first Test – with a bouncer that thudded into his helmet and unsettled Chandimal enough to dismiss him a few overs later. The dual strike, accompanied with ferocious send-offs, provided the much-needed spark.
It was Ishant in his most fearsome avatar and a timely reminder of why he is the leader of the pace attack. Barring an over where the pacer was bizarrely instructed to bowl short balls from around the wicket with a new cherry in his hand, he had maintained his line and length throughout the innings. In the previous Test, Ishant took only two wickets and went for nearly six-an-over in the second innings. His dual breakthrough on the third day might later be seen as the most crucial two wickets in India’s comeback in this series.
Mishra took over from Ishant to clean up the tail in next to no time. Sri Lanka lost their last seven wickets for just 65 runs. The leg-spinner ended the highest wicket-taker with four wickets and also registered the best economy rate – a first-rate performance from India’s third-spinner coming into the tour.
While both Ishant and Mishra did his bit, so did the others. They dug deep and stuck to the basics even if they weren’t succeeding in picking up wickets. Binny was an upgrade on Harbhajan – his swing bowling caused more trouble than Bhajji’s offies did. The “seaming all-rounder”, as Kohli calls Binny, should’ve picked up more than one wicket but for a careless no-ball.
Yadav bowled with far more control and threat than Aaron did in the previous match. He beat the bat on numerous occasions late on Day Two in a fantastic spell. Ashwin, who was negotiated much better by the Lankans this time around, picked up two wickets as well. One of them was the key scalp of Kumar Sangakkara.
Overall, no Indian bowler conceded runs at a rate higher than 3.52 and all of them picked up at least a wicket. They stifled the opposition on a pitch suited to batting and earned their rewards. For a change, India’s bowlers were a unit on the field and not just on paper.
Team play
Earlier in the match the batting had come through as well even when Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane, two of only three batsmen certain of a spot in the team, had failed. Lokesh Rahul, who retained his place only because of Shikhar Dhawan’s injury, stepped up to anchor the innings while Rohit made his first meaningful contribution (a steady 79) in what feels like an eternity.
Rahul rode his luck early on but made it count by scoring 108. After two single-digit scores at Galle, he stepped out smartly to spin and handled pace stylishly to register his second ton in three Tests. He was involved in an outstanding 164-run partnership with Kohli, the skipper scoring a typically positive 78, before another 55-run stand with Rohit.
Saha too scored a fighting half-century batting with the tail – runs that proved to be the difference between the two sides in the first innings. Even the presence of Binny, who came in before Saha at six and hung around with Rohit for 40 balls, provided depth to the batting line-up as opposed to the impression of a long tail.
By the end of Day Three, even Vijay and Rahane had made amends for their twin failures in the first innings to guide India to a commanding position. This meant all eleven players in the team had contributed in one form or the other. If India go on to win the Test match, it will indeed be as complete a win as any in recent years.
At stumps on Day Three, a lead of 157 runs with nine wickets in hand had put the visitors firmly in control. Considering India are not batting last, this is an even more dominant position than the one they found themselves in a week ago at Galle. Once again, unless the weather intervenes, nothing other than a win will be acceptable back home.
All-round resurgence
The most heartening aspect of the display thus far has been the contribution from previously ailing or uncertain quarters. It has been a refreshingly collective performance. Players – or positions for that matter – with question marks against them have made an impact in some form or the other.
In the previous Test, there were too many passengers. Rohit Sharma was a waste of space. Harbhajan Singh cut an uninspiring figure. Varun Aaron was all over the place. Lokesh Rahul flopped twice. Ishant Sharma failed to inspire. And even Amit Mishra was just passable. That’s six out of 11 players.
Skipper Virat Kohli wrung in the changes for the Colombo Test: Stuart Binny for Harbhajan, Umesh Yadav for Aaron, and Rohit bumped down to number five in the order. The results have been positive. The batsmen went about their task in steady partnerships to rebuild from a shaky start, while the bowlers bowled as a unit, with patience and discipline, to carve out a potentially decisive first-innings advantage.
The Ishant Sharma show
On Day Three when Sri Lanka were gradually taking command of the Test having scored over 100 runs without losing a wicket, Ishant sprung into life. Angelo Mathews and Lahiru Thirimanne had seen off the first round of attack from all the Indian bowlers with relative ease.
However, the lofty pacer returned to find Thirimanne’s edge from around the wicket. It was a deserved wicket too. He had troubled the same batsman earlier in the day without much reward. He then greeted Dinesh Chandimal – Man of the Match in the first Test – with a bouncer that thudded into his helmet and unsettled Chandimal enough to dismiss him a few overs later. The dual strike, accompanied with ferocious send-offs, provided the much-needed spark.
It was Ishant in his most fearsome avatar and a timely reminder of why he is the leader of the pace attack. Barring an over where the pacer was bizarrely instructed to bowl short balls from around the wicket with a new cherry in his hand, he had maintained his line and length throughout the innings. In the previous Test, Ishant took only two wickets and went for nearly six-an-over in the second innings. His dual breakthrough on the third day might later be seen as the most crucial two wickets in India’s comeback in this series.
Mishra took over from Ishant to clean up the tail in next to no time. Sri Lanka lost their last seven wickets for just 65 runs. The leg-spinner ended the highest wicket-taker with four wickets and also registered the best economy rate – a first-rate performance from India’s third-spinner coming into the tour.
While both Ishant and Mishra did his bit, so did the others. They dug deep and stuck to the basics even if they weren’t succeeding in picking up wickets. Binny was an upgrade on Harbhajan – his swing bowling caused more trouble than Bhajji’s offies did. The “seaming all-rounder”, as Kohli calls Binny, should’ve picked up more than one wicket but for a careless no-ball.
Yadav bowled with far more control and threat than Aaron did in the previous match. He beat the bat on numerous occasions late on Day Two in a fantastic spell. Ashwin, who was negotiated much better by the Lankans this time around, picked up two wickets as well. One of them was the key scalp of Kumar Sangakkara.
Overall, no Indian bowler conceded runs at a rate higher than 3.52 and all of them picked up at least a wicket. They stifled the opposition on a pitch suited to batting and earned their rewards. For a change, India’s bowlers were a unit on the field and not just on paper.
Team play
Earlier in the match the batting had come through as well even when Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane, two of only three batsmen certain of a spot in the team, had failed. Lokesh Rahul, who retained his place only because of Shikhar Dhawan’s injury, stepped up to anchor the innings while Rohit made his first meaningful contribution (a steady 79) in what feels like an eternity.
Rahul rode his luck early on but made it count by scoring 108. After two single-digit scores at Galle, he stepped out smartly to spin and handled pace stylishly to register his second ton in three Tests. He was involved in an outstanding 164-run partnership with Kohli, the skipper scoring a typically positive 78, before another 55-run stand with Rohit.
Saha too scored a fighting half-century batting with the tail – runs that proved to be the difference between the two sides in the first innings. Even the presence of Binny, who came in before Saha at six and hung around with Rohit for 40 balls, provided depth to the batting line-up as opposed to the impression of a long tail.
By the end of Day Three, even Vijay and Rahane had made amends for their twin failures in the first innings to guide India to a commanding position. This meant all eleven players in the team had contributed in one form or the other. If India go on to win the Test match, it will indeed be as complete a win as any in recent years.
You’ve read Scroll.
Now help sustain it
Scroll is funded by readers, not corporate owners. If you believe our work matters, support our newsroom. Become a member today!
We’re not driven by clicks or corporate interests – just honest, independent reporting. Keep us going. Support Scroll today!