If you look past India’s dominating winning margin in Bengaluru, Dimuth Karunaratne’s innings stands out. The first-ever centurion in the fourth innings of a pink-ball Test? Surely, there aren’t going to be too many instances of that, given how the pink ball behaves both in the hands of pacers and spinners alike.
Add to it this Bengaluru pitch, which tested batsmen across three days with sharp turn and variable bounce. It was a needlessly tough pitch, and very few batsmen from either side were able to comprehend it. Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant made merry for India, sure, but Karunaratne surpassed them both with some clever footwork. That’s all it takes to play and survive on such a minefield of a wicket.
Of course, the gap in quality between India and Sri Lanka is so vast at the moment that a fourth-innings’ hundred could only save the visitors from embarrassment. A winning start for captain Rohit Sharma, a 15th consecutive home Test series’ win, and moving up in the World Test Championship table – it proved to be a worthy exercise for team India.
An impressive debut for captain Rohit
Leading India for the first time in a Test series, Rohit Sharma took the side to a convincing 2-0 win against Sri Lanka. AP
Indian cricket isn’t unfamiliar with his leadership qualities, especially in white-ball cricket. In that light, it wasn’t really any surprise that India blew away New Zealand, West Indies and Sri Lanka in the ODIs/T20Is whilst ticking a lot of boxes for the upcoming World Cup. Test cricket, though, is a different ball game.
It isn’t as if Rohit needed to learn/unlearn some tricks for the longer format. It is more about the expanse of this format. It can test the best leaders, pun unintended. Both MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, for example, were not able to consistently make the changeover. While the Test arena limited Dhoni’s leadership skills, Kohli found his limitations in white ball captaincy. For Rohit, the challenge is to find the critical equilibrium between red/pink and white ball cricket.
In that, he has an easy start against Sri Lanka. The disparity between the two sides has meant the challenge has come from within the Indian camp. Making the right selection calls, marshalling the right changes on the field and of course winning the series – it has been an easy checklist for Rohit.
Whilst batting and bowling will be discussed a tad later, as regards captaincy, one individual comes under the spotlight. Both Rohit and R Ashwin have spoken in glowing terms about each other. It could be a shift in the relationship Ashwin enjoys with the Indian Test captain, given how the position has changed hands. There is no denying that Ashwin is an all-time great, and a match-winner whether at home or away, and yet, he is only now getting to play under a Test captain who believes so.
When India does play its next Test against England in June, it will be interesting to see if Rohit breaks last summer’s pattern and brings Ashwin in.
A rejigged batting plan – Iyer and Pant excel in their new roles
The selectors did half the work here by dropping both Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. All the team management needed to do was get Hanuma Vihari and Shreyas Iyer in, and bed them to their respective roles. In that light, Vihari at number three makes for an optimal replacement. He has the game for that position, and the knack of scoring runs when the opportunity presents itself.
There is one area wherein Vihari lacks a bit, as compared to Pujara in particular, and this facet was highlighted in both Mohali and Bengaluru. An in-form Pujara had this habit of going aggressive against spinners. When well set, he would press on the accelerator and attack them, even step out on various instances. A set, on-song Pujara was simply irresistible against spin bowling on home turf. Vihari pales in that comparison, but as long as the job gets done, nobody minds how it is done. As such, his acid test will come in England when India looks to close that pending series.
In Iyer’s case, it was a tad surprising to see him bat at number six. He had batted at number five against New Zealand for varied selection reasons, but usually the Indian team doesn’t break such habits. In this instance though, it was more important to gain balance in the middle order by utilizing Rishabh Pant’s aggression.
It was particularly the case in Mohali, wherein Lasith Embuldeniya had dismissed both Vihari and Virat Kohli. Pant was sent ahead simply to counter his left-arm spin, and the formula worked like a charm. Why? Because Pant, in his current ever-growing maverick form, is a freak of nature. Not only he changed the game in Mohali, but also in Bengaluru, where he paved the way for Iyer to hit out aggressively too.
And so, Iyer batted at six, mostly following the template Pant had set for him. Never mind runs on the board, he is in a purple patch as concerns confidence at present. Whether in the short or longer formats, Sri Lanka couldn’t find a way to get him out cheaply and Iyer just carried that confidence from T20s to Test cricket. In the current scheme of things, he is assured to continue batting at this spot, with England promising to be a real test for him too.
Even so, next up is the IPL wherein he will also lead Kolkata Knight Riders. If he can carry this batting form at number three and sparkle during the next two months, it could propel him into the superstar league of Indian cricket.
More pink ball Test cricket please!
In the post-match conference at Bengaluru, Rohit pointed out correctly that it was still only the third day-night Test for India and that they are still coming to terms with the differentiation in conditions. From Kolkata to Ahmedabad, there was a great variance in pitch conditions already, and that’s why the Bengaluru turner comes under the scanner. A flatter wicket, aiding spin but not to this degree, would have helped better understand the impact of pink ball on batting-friendly surfaces in India.
Don’t tell the Indian bowlers of this lost opportunity though, for they didn’t mind at all. Jasprit Bumrah with a match-haul of 8-47 proved why this Indian attack would relish pink ball cricket in India even more than routine red ball cricket in overseas conditions. On a turning wicket with variable bounce, he was able to extract enough purchase for all his tricks, the highlight being a well-aimed rising bouncer to Niroshan Dickwella on day two.
Ashwin, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja turning the ball in the afternoon sessions, while Bumrah and Mohammed Shami swing the ball under lights. If you thought India was already nearly unbeatable at home, this sets a template for future day-night Test glory. Bring on Australia in 2023!
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