Lahiru Udara and Prabath Jayasuriya were visibly upset with the visibility. Two rain breaks diminished the daylight, and it was not easy to negotiate the Indian bowlers under that fading light. 5:38-5:48 PM, in these 10 minutes, Sri Lanka lost one of their openers and the nightwatchman and are staring down the barrel with 8/2 with a steep first innings deficit of 495.
India on top
India are clearly in the driver’s seat after the completion of the second day’s play at Colombo. Two centurions, a half-centurion skipper and a brisk 63 from their keeper-batter propelled them to 503 in the first innings. This is the sixth-highest total by India in a Test innings in the island nation. Also, this is the 17th time India have scored over 500 in a Test innings against Sri Lanka, equalling their record of 17 500+ scores against Australia.
Padikkal shows his class again
India’s total is bolstered by a valiant hundred from the number three batter Devdutt Padikkal, who notched up his second hundred in as many Tests this series. Records say that he is the only third Indian to score multiple Test hundreds at number 3 in Sri Lanka after Cheteshwar Pujara and Vinod Kambli. The Karnataka southpaw has been incredibly successful in the island country, scoring 501 runs in his 6 First Class innings.
After Padikkal’s dismissal, India had a hiccup as they lost Ravindra Jadeja (43) and the debutant Saransh Jain (6), but Dhruv Jurel stepped up. Jurel and Rishabh Pant, who came back after being retired hurt yesterday, added 112 runs for the 7th wicket, and it is the only 100-run partnership by any Indian pair in Sri Lanka for that wicket. Jurel finished with an unbeaten 115, which is the fourth-highest individual score by a visiting batter, batting at number 7 or below, in Sri Lanka.
Richard Hadlee (151 in 1987), Daniel Vettori (140 in 2009) and Salman Ali Agha (132 in 2023) bettered him, and all four innings have come at Colombo (SSC). This is also the sixth-highest score by an Indian number 7 batter in away Tests.
Pant continues to break records
Rishabh Pant’s comeback remains one of the key moments for India on day 2. He copped a blow in his left hand off a snorter from Lahiru Kumara, but he came back to add 60 more to his tally. On his way, he hit his 61st maximum in away Tests to topple Younis Khan (60) in that list.
He also became the fifth Indian Test batter to go past the 2,000-run mark, batting at number 5. Currently, Pant (2,055*) is behind Mohammad Azharuddin (4,346), Ajinkya Rahane (3,701), Sourav Ganguly (3,440) and VVS Laxman (2,877).
India are in a commanding position after the second day, to say the least. The hosts are already depleted as they do not have their two premier batters, Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis, due to injury concerns. On top of that, they lost a couple of wickets early in pursuit of a gargantuan total. The third day is not going to be easy for them.
Can Sri Lanka bounce back?
Debutant Kamil Mishara will be accompanied by Pasindu Sooriyabandara, who suffered a golden duck in his debut Test innings earlier. However, they can be hopeful as Kamindu Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva are up next. Sonal Dinusha and Niroshan Dickwella, who got runs in the last Test, are still in the dressing room.
But their first task will be to safely answer the tricky questions asked by the Indian pacers early in the morning. Mohammad Siraj and Prasidh Krishna will look to exploit the conditions and take a few early wickets. Manav Suthar, the star of the last Test, got a wicket today, and he will not be easy to face tomorrow. Debutant Saransh Jain and the veteran Ravindra Jadeja will accompany the Rajasthani spinner.
For more news & updates, follow The Crichub on Instagram, X and YouTube
