Mohammed Shami's cameo had Virat Kohli all excited

India did not have the best of the starts in the first innings of the Test match, with a shambolic batting performance from the top order apart from Cheteshwar Pujara‘s half century. However, it was the lower-orders’ batting performance which caught the attention of the fans.

Following the dismissal of wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha and Ravindra Jadeja, it looked like the Indian team would be dismissed for a total below 150 runs. It would have been India’s third such instance against Sri Lanka, with one of it being as recent as in Colombo, 2016.

The Indian tail wagged and wagged hard, with Mohammed Shami striking the ball sweetly from the word go. While it left the Sri Lankan bowlers frustrated and discouraged, the Indian skipper Virat Kohli was all excited. It was not only Shami, who made the headline for his batting cameo but also the Indian skipper, who became the centre of attraction. Kohli was seen making animated faces everytime the right-handed batsman had a go at the bowler.

Shami’s cameo propelled India to 172

The pacer ended the innings with three boundaries under his name while his bowling partner Umesh Yadav could not show put up a real display of his batting skills. Not only did Kohli react in an animated manner, but the Indian skipper also was seen muttering few words ahead of the Sri Lankan innings.

In an otherwise rain-hit match, the third day’s play began much earlier than the scheduled time to recover for hours lost. Pujara, who was inching towards his 16th half-century eventually got over the line, but was dismissed before lunch. While India struggled to time the ball, the visitors found it more comfortable, attacking from the very first delivery.

The Sri Lankan openers got their team off to a flyer before a double-strike from Bhuvaneshwar Kumar pegged their run-rate. However, a solid partnership between Angelo Mathews and Lahira Thirimanne ensured that Sri Lanka only trailed the hosts by seven runs at the end of third day’s play.