5 instances when India's lower order rescued the team

#1 Against Sri Lanka in Kolkata (2017)

Mohammed Shami can wield the long handle to good effect

In conditions assisting seamers, Sri Lanka won an important toss and elected to bowl first. Suranga Lakmal bowled splendidly as the Indian batsmen, with the exception of Pujara, fell cheaply. The hosts reached 74/5 at the end of the second day as only 32.5 overs of play was possible due to unseasonal rains. India were in further trouble when Pujara was out early on the third day.

With the scorecard reading 79/6, Saha and Jadeja played some attacking shots and put on a stand of 48 runs in quick time. But both batsmen were dismissed in the same over. At 128/8, India still needed some vital runs to reach a respectable score. Bhuvneshwar Kumar contributed a useful 13 runs while Mohammed Shami hit a quickfire 24 to swell the total to 172.

With the weather clearing and batting becoming relatively easier, Sri Lanka secured a substantial lead of 122 runs. India turned the match around by scoring 352/8d in the second innings and set Sri Lanka a target of 231 runs. The visitors were in trouble at 75/7 from 26.3 overs when bad light stopped play to result in a draw.

First Innings - From 79/6 to 172 all out

Percent of runs scored by the lower order - 54.07