5 Players who ensured India’s historic series win over Sri Lanka

5 Players who ensured India’s historic series win over Sri Lanka: The Indian Cricket team under the captaincy of Virat Kohli won the Test series against Sri Lanka 2-1; this win on the Lankan islands came after 22 years. The Indian team came back strongly in the second game, to win it, they carried the momentum and kept the pressure in the third Test as well, despite losing the first Test match. The credit for the series win should be given to all the players, but here we have 5 Players who ensured India’s historic series win over Sri Lanka: 1. R Ashwin: Ravichandran Ashwin. (Photo Source: Associated Press) Ravichandran Ashwin was the leading wicket taker in the Sri Lankan Test series. He picked 21 wickets which is the most by a bowler in India vs Sri Lanka Test series. In the first Test match at Galle, he picked a 10-wicket haul. In the 2nd Test Ashwin picked 2 wickets in the first innings while he got a fifer in the second. The highlight of the 1st four innings was that he got the retiring legend Kumar Sangakkara out on all 4 occasions in the series. In the 3rd match he did not have enough opportunities to bowl in the first innings while Ash bagged 4 wickets in the second innings. In the series he scalped 21 for 380 runs at a rate of 18.1 runs per wicket. He scored a vital 57 in the second innings of the third Test match to help India get a substantial lead. He was awarded the man of series award for his overall performance. 2. Ishant Sharma: Ishant Sharma. (© AFP/Getty Images) Ishant Sharma proved that Indian pacers can also pick crucial wickets and can handicap the opposition if have suitable conditions to bowl with. In the first Test match of the series he picked 1 wicket each in both innings. In the second he picked 2 wickets in the first innings and 1 wicket in the second. In the third Test match he picked 5 wickets in the first innings and 3 crucial ones in the second innings. Overall he bagged 13 wickets giving away 302 runs at a rate of 23.3 runs per wicket. 3. Chetshwar Pujara: Cheteshwar Pujara. (© AFP/Getty Images) In the third Test match at Colombo the Indian team faced a problem as both regular openers Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan were ruled out with injuries. Pujara opened the Indian innings in the third Test match, on a wicket that was seaming and proved very difficult to score. He played a brilliant knock of 145*. When wickets were falling at the other end Pujara stood tall and put up a vital partnership with Amit Mishra in the first innings of more than 100. He scored a crucial knock which helped India to reach a total of 312 and proved to be the difference in the end. He remained firm and played with a solid technique which led to India’s victory in Sri Lanka. Pujara was negotiating the seam, bounce and movement of Sri Lankan pacers with rare discipline and control. Once the pressure was off and the spinners were introduced, Pujara batted with refreshing freedom and displayed his outstanding footwork to attack the bowlers. 4. Virat Kohli: Virat kohli. (Photo Source: BCCI) Virat Kohli was leading the Test team in full fledged Test series for the first the time. He led the team and won his first series as Captain. He did not perform exceptionally well with the bat in the series. In the first Test match he scored 103 and 3. In the second Test he got 78 and 10 while in the last Test match he scored 18 and 21 runs respectively. He scored 233 runs at an average of 38.8. After losing the 1st game, he captained in an even more pro-active, positive and aggressive manner and pushed the pressure on the Sri Lankan batsmen. 5. Amit Mishra: Amit Mishra. (Photo Source: AFP) Amit Mishra played a key role in the Test series against Sri Lanka. He played all the three Test matches and contributed very well with ball and bat as well. In the first Test match he picked 2 wickets in the first innings and 3 in the second. In the second game, he picked 4 and 3 wickets in both the innings respectively. In the last Test match he picked 2 wickets in the first innings and a single scalp in the second innings. Overall he accounted for 15 wickets, in the series giving away 225, at the rate of 15 runs per wicket. He also made crucial contributions with the bat scoring 157 runs. In the third Test match he scored a vital 50 in the first innings and also 39 in the second innings.