Shikhar Dhawan all praises for Sandakan and Pushpakumara

Century maker for India in the Third Test against Sri Lanka at Pallekele, Shikhar Dhawan, lauded the spin attack of the home side featuring Lakshan Sandakan and Malinda Pushpakumara. The duo helped the Sri Lankans crawl their way back into the match with the help of the five wickets they shared amongst them.

After posting a mammoth opening stand of 188, India was reduced to 329-6 by the end of the day. Malinda Pushpakumara, who had a forgetful debut at Colombo, justified his selection by picking up three vital wickets in the innings. He removed the openers, Dhawan and Rahul, and followed it up with the wicket of Ajinkya Rahane. Left arm Chinaman bowler, Lakshan Sandakan contributed by picking up the important wicket of Kohli and Pujara.

“The Chinaman bowler (Lakshan Sandakan) is very nice. He was turning the ball and one odd ball was turning a lot. It’s hard to pick his googly also. Especially once we got out, the way he came back and bowled, it was good for them. Their left-arm orthodox spinner (Malinda Pushpakumara) is also good and he took wickets today. He has been bowling consistently on the right spot for them,” quoted Shikhara Dhawan according to NDTV sports.

Dhawan on India’s collapse

“It happens. It’s not that it has happened for the first time. We got a good start and still feel at the end of the day, 329 is a good score. Those are batting now are capable of scoring big runs and it’s a wicket where it is not spinning but it doesn’t have bounce.So it’s not easy to score runs out there and even the outfield is not that quick. When Sri Lanka come out to bat, we are going to make sure that we squeeze them hard and not give away easy runs,” added Dhawan revealing about their game plan later.

He concluded by commending the efforts of the Sri Lankans for coming back into the match post the lunch session.”They came back well. Their body language was good and they held good catches. Whatever credit they must get, they deserve. They bowled in consistent areas,” signed off Dhawan