Aren't these the kind of Tests we need?

It was a day when Test cricket was at its best- a culmination of what happens when rain takes away almost two days of play and the undermined visitors spring up a surprise against the best team in the world; putting them on the back foot on the first ball of the game. Not to forget what happens when the hosts, the natural favourites of the series even before it commenced, stage a comeback when it is least expected.

In the back of our minds, we all knew on the morning of Day 5 that the chances of India preventing a draw or winning the game were equivalent to chances of you and me winning a lottery we didn’t even buy a ticket for.

Tragedy struck India on the first ball of the game as KL Rahul walked back with a golden duck while Sri Lanka grabbed one key to success after another. Dhawan followed him soon after. Kohli was dismissed for a duck. India were on a free fall with 17/3 on Day 1.

Suranga Lakmal was almost unplayable and the middle-order hardly had the answers to a tricky Eden pitch which was used to its potential by the bowlers. It was only until India’s most reliable batsman, Pujara decided to settle things a bit for his side. In his 52-run knock, he looked unbothered by what was happening with his partners at the other end.

The sun came and so did play. On Day 3 we finally saw play lasting the duration and it reminded us that we could still have a game. Team India had recovered with useful runs from the tail-enders from 50/5 to 172 but the fact that it wasn’t a good enough first innings score was no secret.

Sri Lanka’s first innings was relatively easier because the pitch had eased out by then and thanks to crucial fifties from Angelo Mathews and Lahiru Thiramanne, they were cruising in the match. Rangana Herath’s fighting knock was another reminder that the game was practically headed for a draw and maybe even their maiden Test win in this part of the subcontinent.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami scalped 4 wickets a piece yet India faced a tall task of finishing off the 122-run deficit and also taking a lead intimidating enough to break Sri Lanka a little. Of course, the time and bad light factors remained a hurdle but India bounced back. And, how.

You could say India finally dominated a session when KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan switched on the ODI mode and batted as if in a hurry to wrap it all up. In that attempt, Dhawan fell 6 short of a century but a sparkling Kohli special awaited. Since all the drama happened on Day 5, that’s what the focus here will be. Because you’re kidding yourself if you don’t like drama especially in this form.

Drama on day 5

On the morning of the last day, many might have snoozed alarms initially set for 9:00 because they didn’t think every shot and every ball of this day would be worth watching. Pujara fell early but all was not lost because Kohli stepped in with a belief. The thing about Kohli is that everything about him is so expressive that you’ll know for sure when he’s in his zone and is looking to do something special just by looking at his grim eyes. Even then, you didn’t know what was coming. A blitzkrieg.

It started a slow, he scored a steady fifty, packed with gorgeous drives and of course, Sri Lanka were aware of the threat that grew every passing minute Kohli was on the crease, but they could not replicate the bowling show spearheaded by Lakmal in the first innings, this time. Batsmen on the other end kept walking back to back but Kohli was unfazed, determined to ensure that India did not lose this game.

At the same time, the way he was playing guaranteed that there was no change or intent or the initial belief that they would play for a draw. At times, the other batsmen and their inability to go all out did look like there was confusion about what India planned to do but there wasn’t a single moment that Kohli batted like it was an innings any less passionate than a chase he would thrive under pressure in.

There were glimpses of Kohli The Calculative Chase Master in ODIs when he batted but there was something different this time. He looked decorated with another kind of freedom, almost as if he was risk-free, batting as if he had nothing to lose yet eyeing a victory for his team simultaneously. Come the 83rd over and the demonstration of what a world class shorter-format player could execute even at the highest level of the game. From 5 runs an over, the acceleration touched 10 an over.

Don’t know what it was, the confidence of an overturned review in his favour or the banana he ate, he seemed unstoppable after that. He had successfully constructed the second innings into a chase like situation where he was looking to give the Kolkata crowd an experience of his special exhibition consisting of timing, finding the gaps and the armoury of shots he possesses. India went for around 7-10 runs an over for all the remaining 5 overs while only one over being confined to just 1 run.

A beautiful six over the rope brought up his 18th Test hundred. 11th Test hundred as captain. His 50th International century. His 1st at the Eden Gardens. Eighth in the list for most Test hundreds for India. And there came the roar, and fist pumps in the air and so did the declaration. Just around half an hour before tea.

The very fact that the team on the back foot reached the point that they had to declare showed the position India wanted to be in. It reeked of a power and authority as if explicitly showing the visitors who troubled them all other days of play that we will still challenge you to face a session of our top-class bowling.

Indian pacers bowled with their tail up

And that, it was. The tables had been turned. From losing the first wicket in the first over in the first innings, India scalped a wicket in the first over in the second innings. Then took flight the duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami that was as good a bowling display as you’ll see. Every ball that Kumar bowled looked like he would get a wicket, and him ending with figures of 11-8-8-4 is a proof that Eden Garden and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are the beginning of a new love affair. Every ball that Shami bowled looked as if either the stumps or the batsmen would be hurt.

At 22/4, Sri Lanka’s only challenge looked like batting the game out. Now, an average person with obviously no experience of the surprises cricket has in store would think that’s an easy job- “block, defend, wait for a loose ball.” Thing is, there were rarely any bad balls and the Indian pace battery was charged enough to penetrate their defense and blocking game.

Spice in the soup

This brought Niroshan Dickwella into the picture. The man was not playing the defensive game, he too was playing a game within the game. Making sure that India do not just use the last day as the confidence gaining session ahead of the second Test.

He went on the offensive instead and that wasn’t restricted to just the bat and the ball. There were verbal volleys between the slip cordon and him and there were death stares between him and Shami. There were smart time-wasting tactics too, there were hints of a sprinting physio almost being the 12th man trying to waste some more time. However, THAT drama had to end because Bhuvi is a man more into creating a different kind of drama himself. It was goodbye to a persistent Dickwella who hardly gave up.

Five slips and a short cover point with Bhuvneshwar steaming in was a sight but it was not long before the sun was completely out of sight too. It was all over. India were about to touch down, three wickets away, but it was Dinesh Chandimal’s persistent demand to call it off because of improper visibility and the umpires and the light meter agreeing in the next over.

It was an exceptional day of cricket and an excellent match in general, and we need more of this. India will not say that they didn’t get to prepare for South Africa in the best possible way and Sri Lanka will not say that their fortune in Tests is as bad as their limited-overs scene. Most importantly, cricket fans will not say that Test cricket is dying.