India tick all the boxes in Galle

It was a complete all-round performance by India in Galle. For any series or match, it is imperative for a team to start well. The way Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara notched up more than 250 runs for the second wicket, and the way India scored almost 400 runs on the first day of the Test, set the tone of the game for me.

There's no denying the fact that the teams were terribly mismatched. The way India have been performing over the past year or so, defeating quality opponents like England and Australia while making comebacks after being down in the series, has been exemplary.

Also, the conditions in Sri Lanka are quite similar to what the team plays in at home, and hence a level of comfort was expected.

However, the way India ticked all of their boxes -- both spinners as well as fast bowlers picking up wickets -- depicted how strong the team has been.

The Dhawan effect

Dhawan was not a part of the squad for the home series against Australia -- which was the last series that India played before this one -- but the way he has been performing in limited-overs cricket, be it in the Champions Trophy or the series in the West Indies must have surely boosted his confidence. And cricket is a game of confidence. I think Dhawan has carried that confidence from the limited-overs games into the Test matches.

If you see, he was India's fourth-choice opener. Murali Vijay got injured, and Dhawan replaced him. However, KL Rahul and Abhinav Mukund were picked ahead of him. It was a spate of luck, hence, that Dhawan got to play this Test after Rahul had taken ill.

As it turned out, it was a blessing in disguise. Dhawan made full use of the opportunity meted out to him. In fact, he's been making use of them since the IPL, where he was one of the leading run scorers for the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Not without a tryst with luck though -- he was dropped on 31 -- but when it's your day, it's your day. Credits cannot be taken away from his knock of 190 on the first day of the Test.

As far the opening combination is concerned, if Rahul gets fit in time for the next Test, he deserves a comeback. Although Mukund made up for his poor show in the first innings by scoring a 50 in the second innings, he is likely to be the unlucky one to miss out should Rahul return for the next Test purely because of the way Dhawan has performed over the past couple of months.

Kohli scored four double hundreds in the year 2016

Kohli was never out of form

I don't think Virat Kohli was out of form per se. Yes, he didn't score as many in Tests. If you look at the Australia series, he could manage a top score of 15 in the five innings that he played. But before that, he had a double hundred in each of the four Test series that he played -- against England, Bangladesh, New Zealand and the West Indies.

Also, the way he performed during the limited-overs series in the West Indies, where he got a hundred and an 80-odd, shows that he wasn't really out of form. It was just that he wasn't scoring runs in the longest format of the game.

If you look at the stats, he has 17 hundreds and only 14 fifties, which makes for an excellent conversion rate. And it is always good for a side when the captain is amongst the runs. In the last 4-5 Tests he didn't score many, but now that he's back with the runs, all's well.

Sri Lanka's wobbly form

Rangana Herath said at the toss that Sri Lanka were planning to restrict India to a reasonable total. The tone and the language used by the home captain wasn't the best, in my opinion. If at the beginning of a Test match you think of restricting the opposition and not getting them dismissed early, by assuming that the opponents are most likely to score big, you lose half of the battle right there.

Cricket is more about mind games and while it is clear that India were the better side on paper, it is not the side on paper you play against. It is the side that takes the field. There is a difference between the two.

Sri Lanka, of late, have not been playing very good cricket. They lost to Zimbabwe in the ODI series at home, and it was a 3-2 victory for the visitors and not that Zimbabwe managed to win just a game. They dominated Sri Lanka in the ODI series as well as during the better part of the one-off Test. But Sri Lanka managed to chase a record total in the 4th innings.

The loss to Zimbabwe dented their confidence to a large extent, and consequently, there were changes at the helm. Angelo Mathews stepped down from captaincy, and Dinesh Chandimal was named his successor. Upul Tharanga was named as the ODI captain.

The uncertainty hovering over the side at the moment has had its effects felt in terms of the consistency of the players in the side. The gaping hole that was left after the departures of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena has not been filled yet.

That has been the case because the domestic cricket in Sri Lanka, especially the cricket at the school level, hasn't been as good as it previously was. The supply of youngsters, hence, hasn't been continuous. Niroshan Dickwella performed well in one game but couldn't carry on. Asela Gunaratne got injured during the Test. Inconsistency and injuries have plagued their cricket.

Herath's failure with the ball also cost Sri Lanka dear. The veteran could pick up only one wicket while giving away close to 200 runs. Nuwan Pradeep was the only wicket-taker in the first innings; there was nobody to support him.

Conditions matter more than the opposition

I think more than the team, the conditions matter when it comes to overseas tours. That is why teams travel early and get acclimatized to the conditions. That's the thrill that comes with cricket -- the sooner you get acclimatize the better it is for you. Great players are those who judge the conditions quickly and adapt quickly.

This win was also important keeping in mind the changes that took place at the helm of affairs in the Indian team. Ravi Shastri, the new coach of the side, has begun his tenure on a positive note and that augurs well for the team.

Hardik Pandya's debut was impressive. Although he came in to bat when India were comfortably placed, he scored the runs nonetheless. A half century off 40-odd balls on debut cannot be ignored at all.

The game also brought to the fore the bench strength that India have at the moment. Rahul and Vijay are injured, Rohit Sharma sat out of the game, and so did Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma. So that's something that really stood out to me from the current India squad.