No surprises! India decimate Sri Lanka

Mohammed Rumman Khan | NT

Bengaluru: The Pink-ball Test in Bengaluru wasn’t a conventional match for more than one reason. For one, it was played to the IPL (Indian Premier League) soundtrack. Chants of ‘ABD... ABD’ and ‘RCB...RCB’ in an IndiaSri Lanka Test match was a novel change, brought in by local fans. When a match heads one way, the crowd desires to up the intensity so as to get the best out of the predictable contest. That did not change the outcome though, as India decimated Sri Lanka in all departments.

On Monday, Day 3, Lankans showed some fire in their innings and started attacking Indian bowlers, but everyone on the ground knew it was just a matter of time and all wickets would eventually fall. India went on to register a series whitewash. They took the series 2-0 with a massive 238-run win in Namma City

After the first Test match, it was expected that the islanders would give some fight and put India in trouble; at least in some aspects of the game. However, the Test ended in a similar fashion within three days.

The two wins against Sri Lanka fetched India 24 points, but Rohit Sharma’s men remained at the fifth position in the World Championship table due to ‘low percentage points’ (54.16). They have 77 points in their kitty and have a maximum of seven more Tests to try and make it to the Lord’s final next June.

Resuming at 28 for one in pursuit of an improbable 447-run target, on a tough Bengaluru track that offered a sharp turn and variable bounce, the Sri Lankan batters, led by skipper Dimuth Karunaratne (107), resisted the Indian attack for a while before folding up for 208 in the post-tea session. For 173 balls, left-handed Karunaratne defied India and raised his 14th Test century with a boundary off Jasprit Bumrah. He took some time to settle down, but then worked the ball around swiftly, consistently placing them in the gaps. Bumrah (3/23) eventually sent him back with a slightly seaming ball that beat his bat to shatter the stumps. From there on, their innings went into a downward spiral as Ravichandran Ashwin (4/55), Axar Patel (2/37) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/48) did their bit to wrap up the innings.

India will be on cloud nine after the series win, and will take away a lot of positives from a series that saw Hanuma Vihari and Shreyas Iyer replace Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, at 3 and 5 respectively. It still is early for a final verdict. Certainly, there is a lot of promise in the way they played. Hamuma played with class, audacity and tenacity. He brings calmness and firmness to that position. He surely will be backed, especially by the head coach Rahul Dravid who showed world cricket what solidity is, will push him to overcome his shortcomings.

At number 5, Iyer is grabbing all the opportunities coming his way. He kept the scoreboard ticking even as he demonstrated perseverance on a tricky wicket by scoring two half-centuries. India’s bowling has grown by leaps and bounds, and it’s not just in the spin department.Sri Lanka’s Lakmal scored one before being bowled by Bumrah, who joined India’s rush to bid farewell to the 35-year-old veteran.

India now have won all three Pink-ball Tests at home, having beaten Bangladesh (in Kolkata, 2019) and England (in Ahmedabad, 2021) before.

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