India vs Sri Lanka 2017, First Test: 5 Reasons why India humbled Sri Lanka at Galle

#4 Not giving wickets away to Rangana Herath

Rangana Herath struggled to make inroads with the ball

Before the commencement of the series, Rangana Herath was deemed to Sri Lanka’s trump card with the ball in hand. Herath, over the years, has been an integral part of the Sri Lankan bowling set-up with his wicket-taking abilities.

However, the Indian batsmen never allowed him to get under their skins by taking the attack to him right from the outset. In the first innings, the left arm spinner dished out 40 overs and went for 159 runs with a solitary wicket of Wriddhiman Saha in his kitty.

Even in the second innings, Herath bowled nine overs and went for 34 runs with no wickets to show for. Indian batsmen were pretty severe on him as he went for almost four runs per over, which is deemed to be expensive in Test cricket.