India vs Sri Lanka 2017: 5 things India did right to win the 2nd Test
After the humdinger in Kolkata, that stretched till the last session on the fifth day, one would have thought that the Lankans will come up with a fighting response in the second game.
All hopes of a challenge vanished on the opening day itself, and the Indian batting clicked together, taking the game completely away from the visitors, and by the fourth day, India had taken a 1-0 lead.
Here are five reasons why India managed to comprehensively outclass Sri Lanka:
#1 The Murali-Pujara partnership
The Murali Vijay-Cheteshwar Pujara duo was reunited for the first time since March this year, and did not take too long to start from where they had left off. Since the start of the 2016-17 season, the two have been in outstanding form together, averaging over 105 in 11 innings, with over 1100 runs to their name. The two now have three 200+ partnerships in Tests, the second most for an Indian pair.
Vijay, playing his first game since the Dharamsala Test in March, combined with Pujara after the early departure of KL Rahul, and stitched together a massive 209-run partnership that formed the platform for India's first innings.
Resuming the second day on 11-1, Vijay executed his delectable cover drives with elan, showing intent early in the morning and carried it throughout the day, helped along by a few close calls and failed chances from the Lankan fielders.
The Lankans bowlers looked tired as the innings progressed, giving Pujara, a typically slow scorer, more loose deliveries to score off.