5 Talking Points from India-Sri Lanka Second Test

In many ways, this was the perfect Test match. India levelled the series 1-1 and Virat Kohli won his first Test as captain after having come close twice before. There are good signs for Indian cricket as the team was relatively young. Kumar Sangakkara played his last Test international making the game really memorable.After losing at Galle, India really came back harder and fought tougher at Colombo showing the spirit and aggression of which there was plenty of pre-series talk. In many ways, this was also the viewers’ match giving them everything they would like to see in a Test. In fact, this series is turning out to be quite an intensely interesting one between two relatively young sides.India won the match eventually by a massive margin of 278 runs and Lokesh Rahul took home the Man of the Match ahead of Ajinkya Rahane and Ravichandran Ashwin for his first innings century. It is also advantage India considering there will not be a Sangakkara at No.3 in the third Test encouraging Indians to go for the jugular.The Test match has thrown up several interesting aspects that need to be discussed before we move on to the previews of the third and Final Test. There are things which need to be observed, pointed out and analysed as well, for these are interesting days in Test cricket.All the five Ashes Tests produced results, one-sided ones at that and now both the Tests between India and Sri Lanka have given us results as well. The Sri Lanka-Pakistan series played before this ended 2-1 in Pakistan’s favour, showing that the modern style of playing cricket is ensuring more results. Whether batsman and bowlers are producing same quality of cricket is a debate for another day.Let us look at some of the talking points of this Test.

#1 Fans bid adieu to Kumar Sangakkara

Kumar Sangakkara is given a farewell by Indian cricketers after he is dismissed in the 2^nd innings

Sport doesn’t give everyone a great farewell. Some don’t even know when they have played their last Test. A lot of legends waited too long to hang their boots and have missed farewells. Then there are masters like Kumar Sangakkara and Sachin Tendulkar whose swansongs are mellifluous, who walk into the twilights with much fanfare.

Sangakkara got a Guard of Honour from the Indian team twice. Their admiration for him was obvious in the way they heartily congratulated him in true sportsman spirit. His teammates couldn’t exactly give him the perfect farewell by winning the Test and the series, although they did pull off a stunner at Galle in the first Test.

There were some wonderful words spoken but none more endearing or wiser than that of the man himself, when he thanked one and all, coaches, friends, staff, players and even the opponents from India who gave him a tough contest every single time, in a choked emotional and tearful speech.

Sangakkara’s performances though were not up to the high standards he had set. He managed scores of 5, 40, 32 and 18 falling to Ravichandran Ashwin every time, showing the difficulty of adjusting between Sri Lanka and Surrey where he has been playing county cricket. He would have liked to score more.

The stage was set for him to score a big one and thwart India with a miracle that everyone hoped for. He seemed in sublime touch too, but Ashwin was once again at his best. There were a lot of images that will forever remain etched in the fans’ hearts as the last great of the golden generation comprising of Sachin, Mahela, Dravid, Laxman, Ponting, Lara and Kallis bides farewell to cricket.

Cricket has been richer for these legends and now there is an obvious chasm!

#2 A wonderful pitch

Rahane and Vijay’s partnership on Day 4 showed that a sporting pitch had been provided

Kudos to the curator of the P Sara Oval for serving up a delightful pitch. There was something in it for every player, the right blend to offer every player some encouragement. It was a pitch for the specialists, for those who are gifted with the bat or ball.

There were centuries scored by Rahul, Mathews and Rahane – hard-fought ones which needed technique, skill and gusto. Ashwin registered a five-wicket haul with the ball. There were four four-wicket hauls as well, showing that the pitch offered turn and bounce for the spinners.

In fact, the bounce and carry was impressive even for the fast bowlers as Ishant Sharma livened up things from time to time with some short-pitched stuff. Umesh Yadav and to a certain extent, Stuart Binny showed that if you were prepared to pitch it up or at good length, there was some movement available.

The pitch wasn’t a dust bowl and even on the last day, didn’t break down into a batsman’s graveyard. Like Rahane and Vijay showed on the fourth day, there were runs in it if you were willing to play with patience and perseverance. It was the classic example of a pitch where plenty of runs could be scored and plenty of wickets could be taken.

That was seen from the fact that the first three innings in the match witnessed scores in excess of 300. Interestingly, early in the Test, there was substantial seam movement because of moisture. The pitch proved therefore to be the perfect surface and nothing more could be asked out of it.

#3 The resurgence of Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin is already the most successful India spinner in a series in Sri Lanka

In just two Tests, Ravichandran Ashwin has already picked up 17 wickets, the most by any Indian spinner in Sri Lanka in an India-Sri Lanka Test series. He is nine wickets behind Ajantha Mendis, who with 26 wickets holds the record for most wickets by any spinner in an India-Sri Lanka Test series both in India and Sri Lanka. He looks perfectly capable to reach that mark.

Ashwin picked up seven wickets in the second Test to follow up on his ten-wicket match haul in the first Test. This is also his second five-wicket haul this series to go with the one in the first Test. More importantly, it is delightful to note that Ashwin got the better of a legend like Sangakkara four out of four times and it didn’t take him too many deliveries either.

Most of his wickets have come with the classical off-spinner and the floater or arm ball, showing that he has now learnt the art of using subtle variations to prise out wickets instead of going for flamboyant variety. Ashwin’s resurgence started in Australia during the World Cup and he has only gone from strength to strength.

In the final innings, Ashwin bamboozled the Sri Lankans just like he did in the second innings of the first Test. As a tall man, he also got a lot more bounce off the pitch at P Sara Oval adding an extra dimension to his bowling. A lot of Ashwin’s wickets have come from batsmen trapped LBW, caught at slips or caught by close-in fielders, showing how effective he has been in this series.

Given that India has a massive home series coming up against South Africa, Ashwin’s form would prove to be a real delight for his skipper, team and the Indian fans.

#4 Bench strength of the two teams

KL Rahul came up with a good batting knock, and put in a good shift as wicketkeeper too

India managed to win this Test and flex its bench strength as well. Firstly, India’s in-form all-rounder Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out of the Test series because of a wrist fracture. That allowed Lokesh Rahul to play another Test match after he had filled in for Murali Vijay in the first.

Rahul made the most of the opportunity by scoring a vital century in a Man of the Match performance. He also contributed immensely as a wicket-keeper in the fourth innings when Wriddhiman Saha couldn’t take to the field due to hamstring problem. So impressive was his keeping that there are suggestions of continuing him as a keeper to get an extra batsman. This solves the openers’ problem for India as there are three openers, all in good nick and with tons in recent cricket.

While an impressive player like Cheteshwar Pujara is sitting out, Rohit Sharma playing in his place and given another lifeline showed his worth with a gritty 79 in the first innings and a quickfire and selfless 34 in the second. Now with Vijay ruled out of the third Test, Pujara could get a chance to play as well, showing India are well covered in the batting department. The ineffectiveness of Harbhajan Singh in the first Test led India to get Stuart Binny in his place. He didn’t shine with the bat but did enough with the ball to justify his selection.

On the other hand, Sri Lanka are faced with some question marks after the retirement of Kumar Sangakkara. Jehan Mubarak, a player in his 30s was brought back for his experience but he has managed to play just one useful knock so far. While both openers have been good alternately, Sri Lanka rarely have gotten a good opening stand.

Sangakkara vacating the No.3 position leaves a big hole and while Upul Tharanga might get a chance in his place ahead of the swashbuckling Kusal Perera, Sri Lanka would feel jittery. Dinesh Chandimal is showing good signs but and so does Lahiru Thirimanne but it was obvious in the fourth innings how much the Sri Lankan batting depends on Angelo Mathews.

#5 Ajinkya Rahane - the versatile team-man

Ajinkya Rahane has delivered in all positions that he has been thrown into

Ajinkya Rahane was part of an interesting gamble cum experiment by Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri both of who were not willing to let go of Rohit Sharma, who didn’t click at No.3. Rahane lasted all of 11 balls at No.3 in the first innings of the second Test, batting up the order and walking in, in the first over so as to accommodate Rohit Sharma at No.5. In the second innings, Rahane had to walk in again in the first over when Lokesh Rahul had his stumps knocked out.

He played grittily in the last session of the third day and then solidly on the fourth day to make sure India got enough runs to declare on its own terms. Rahane scored 126 classy runs adding 140 with Murali Vijay and then another 85 with Rohit Sharma to make sure India built substantially over the lead. This has many consequences.

Rahane’s success at both No.3 and No.5 show his versatility and selflessness, always putting the team ahead of his own cause. India now has more options and flexibility. Overseas, they can go with either Rahane at No.3 or with one of Pujara or Rohit. Secondly, Rahane became the first Indian No.3 in 14 Tests to score a century and he did so away from home.

In fact, all four of his centuries have come away from home – in England, Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, all varying conditions, having missed a century narrowly in South Africa. Rahane can also score quickly when he wants to, having all the shots in the book like he showed when India needed quick runs on the fourth day.

He is confident off the front and back foot and equally comfortable against pace and spin, solid against the moving ball, the bouncing ball and the turning ball – something no other Indian batsman can boast of, not even Virat Kohli. That is a great sign for Indian cricket. He has also turned out to be a like for like replacement for Rahul Dravid in the slips.