India vs Sri Lanka 2017: 5 things India did right to win the 2nd Test

#3 The comebacks that mattered

Rohit Sharma scored his first Test century in four years

A well-set Indian team was forced to make a few changes, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shikhar Dhawan leaving the side due to personal reasons, and Mohammad Shami having a slight niggle. Their replacements, Murali Vijay, Ishant Sharma and Rohit Sharma, took to the Test team like fish to water, highlighting how the current Test team’s bench strength was in equally good form as the playing XI.

Vijay, playing his first game after his shoulder injury in March, showed just how important an asset he is to the Test side, and staked claim for a permanent spot for South Africa with some fluent, assured strokes.

Rohit Sharma, playing his 23rd Test in a career spanning four years, carried his rich vein of limited-overs form in the whites. He started off slow, but realised that the surface was easy to bat on, and did not shy from using his feet against spinners, especially Rangana Herath.

Ishant Sharma has been under scrutiny for not getting enough numbers under his wickets column, but made sure that he corrected that by bowling much better lines, delivering close to the body and enticing the batsman into an edge.