India vs Sri Lanka 2017, Second Test: Hits and Misses
After a draw in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Kolkata, the Indian team dominated the visitors throughout the second test and registered an innings and 239-run win at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur. With this win, Virat Kohli and co. take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Winning the toss on day one of the Test was the only positive for Sri Lanka as they were dominated by the hosts since. After being bundled out for 205 in the first innings, the Sri Lankan bowlers gave away 610 runs before Kohli declared the innings. Opener Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara and Rohit Sharma registered their individual centuries while Virat Kohli went to score a double ton.
Trailing by 405 runs, the Lankans were dismissed for 166, with only Dinesh Chandimal 61 and Suranga Lakmal 31* putting up a semblance of fight. Moreover, R Ashwin became the fastest to take 300 Test wickets during the second innings.
Let us take a look at some of the best performers and a couple of players who failed to make it count in the second Test.
Hit: Ishant Sharma
After the Australian Test series in March earlier this year, Ishant Sharma didn't take part in any of India's international matches as the team management preferred Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Shami in Sri Lanka and in the first Test, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was selected ahead of the lanky Delhi pacer.
After Bhuvneshwar opted out of the match due to his wedding, Ishant was given a chance to prove himself ahead of the South Africa series and the 29-year-old didn't disappoint. He started off the Test on a positive note by dismissing both the Lankan opener Sadeera Samarawickrama cheaply on day one before he returned to send Dimuth Karunaratne back for a well-made 51. Then, later in the day, he got the better of Suranga Lakmal, ending the first innings with figures of 3-37.
He started off the proceedings in the second innings in a similar fashion as he bowled Sadeera with a beauty off the second ball of the innings before accounting for the wicket of Niroshan Dickwella.
He ended the match with figures of 5/80 and showed a lot of maturity throughout the match. Ishant kept hitting the good areas on a consistent basis and showed that he is capable of leading a bowling attack when the team travels overseas. Hi's performance should give the team management a lot of confidence with some big assignments coming up.