SL v IND, 2nd Test Day 1 Review: Centuries from Pujara, Rahane puts India in amenable position

Seeing Pujara get to a Test century has become a mundane task now. He has notched up six hundreds in the last 10 months, and his latest one helped him complete 4,000 Test runs in his 50th Test for India. It was a day of numbers for India’s No. 3, who helped his team finish day one in a commanding position.

Along with Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane helped himself to a Test hundred as well – his first in 18 innings. Overall, it was Rahane’s Test career’s 9th ton and 6 of them have come outside India – a statistic the right-hander will be proud of. Both remained unbowed at stumps and will look to build on tomorrow morning.

Shikhar, Rahul get India off to a decent start

Kohli won the toss and chose to bat first at the SCC, which has a history of tall scores in the first innings. He brought one change in the squad – Rahul returning in place of Mukund. Shikhar Dhawan started in dynamic fashion yet again in Colombo as he danced down the track to hit Herath for a colossal six over long on in the innings’ second over. Rahul was abstemious early on, understandably because he was returning to the Test side after spending four months out of action. He got into his groove slowly, rubbing off from Shikhar’s aggression. Consecutive boundaries from Herath in the 6th over helped Rahul slip into top gear.

Dhawan quickly raced to 35 off 36 balls but squandered a spry start as he fell to Dilruwan’s first delivery of the match when he tried sweeping a ball which was a bit too full to play that shot. Pujara, as he always does, took his time to get settled to the pace of the wicket. Rahul was doing the bulk of the scoring as the duo took India to lunch on 101 for 1. Rahul was unbeaten on 52, which was his 6th consecutive half century in Test cricket, while Pujara remained unbowed at 14 from 58.

Just when it looked like Rahul (57) will make good use of his positive start, he was involved in an ugly mix up with Pujara which cost the opener his wicket. Kohli (13) hit two glorious boundaries before losing his wicket to a rather innocuous delivery from Herath which was caught brilliantly by Mathews at first slip. As the Indian skipper was departing from the center, Sri Lanka were quietly pegging their way back into the game. India were 133 for 3 and needed a partnership to push towards a big first innings score.

The Rahane-Pujara show

Rahane brought positivity to the proceedings, scything four boundaries in his first 25 balls to quickly gallop to 22. Rahane’s approach was contagious as Pujara, too, as he always does, got into a rhythm. From getting stuck at 17 off 65 when he ran Rahul out, he scored 50 of his next 57 to get his strike rate up to almost 55.

Both batsmen put up a spin master class as they repeatedly used their feet against the spinner to smoother any turn available off the surface to the tweakers. Pujara, on most occasions, was quite content in just suckering the ball and tilting it towards the leg side to pick up easy singles. Due to the enterprising knocks by both Rahane and Pujara, India collected 137 runs from 30 overs, at a healthy run rate of 4.56.

After getting up and running, both batsmen realized the importance of making this into a big knock and hence they slowed down in the final session – scoring 106 runs in 32 overs. Pujara reached his 13th Test hundred in the 10th over after the tea break, getting to the landmark off 164 balls. Post Rahul’s wicket, Pujara had made 87 off 101 balls before setting his sights on Day 2 and batting for stumps in the final session.

Reprieve for Rahane

Rahane was a little fortuitous, as he offered a tough chance while being on 80, a sharp catch dropped by debutant Pushpakumara off his own bowling. Apart from that, it was a pristine knock by the vice-captain, reaching three figures in just 151 balls. He remained unbeaten on 103 with the help of 12 boundaries, 2 more than Pujara, who had a six to his name in his 128-run knock.

India went off the field with 344 runs on the board, 55 less than what they had gotten on the opning day of the Galle Test. Pujara and Rahane have added 211 runs for the fourth wicket and would love to carry on tomorrow.

Sri Lanka have a big worry ahead of them as their premier fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep pulled his hamstring in the first over of the second new ball. He delivered just four balls before going off the field and the exact nature of the injury is still unknown. If he is unavailable to bowl tomorrow, the home side’s bowling attack will be diminished significantly on the second day.

Brief Scores:

India – 344 for 3 (Chestashwar Pujara 128*, Ajinkya Rahane 103*, Dilruwan Perera 1/68).