Lankans Surrender Meekly As India Completes Series Sweep
Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.
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By Slogger
First publised on 2022-03-15 02:48:16
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Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.
View all posts by this Author
Although the script was written on the first day when after scoring just 252 in their first innings, India brought the Lankans on their knees by taking 6 of their wickets for 80-odd runs, the comprehensive win for India in the second Test was as much a demonstration of Indiaâs supremacy as of a complete surrender by the Lankans. They had done well on the first day to restrict India to a low score. But they allowed the Indians, especially Rishabh Pant to add to their woes by letting them score rapidly in the second innings. Also it did not help their cause when they folded up for just 109 in the first innings.
Granted that India had three good spinners and the track was turning and the odd ball was keeping low making batting difficult but none of the Lankan batters showed resolve to stay at the wicket and build partnerships. And in the first innings, it was not the spinners but Jasprit Bumrah and Md Shami who tormented them after the Lankan spinners had troubled the Indian batters. This Lankan team is clearly short on experience and will have to learn from its mistakes.
For the Indians, Shreyas Iyer continued his good form from the T20 series and scored two fifties in the second Test. His batting in the first innings was a masterclass on how to handle spinners on a turning wicket. As captain Rohit Sharma said, Iyer has it in him to fill the shoes of Pujara and Rahane. Rishabh Pant is also learning from his mistakes and is becoming an asset to the team. His keeping has improved by leaps and bounds and the way he scored the fastest fifty by an Indian in the second innings showed that he does what is expected of him. These were huge plusses for the Indians, although the continued poor form of Virat Kolhi remains a headache. Further, most Indian batters got a good start in both the Tests but apart from Jadeja and Iyer could not convert them into a big score.
