Gurnoor was the pick of the pacers. Photo Credit: X@BCCI
Indian bowling unit got some rough treatment from Sri Lanka’s Gen-Next batters before Kuldeep Yadav-led spinners scripted a recovery in the final session as the hosts posted 363 for 8 to end their first innings on the opening day of the three-day warm-up game here on Friday.
Since the match doesn’t have first-class status — each team will bat 90 overs on days one and two and 45 overs each on the final day.
However at the end of the first day, head coach Gautam Gambhir and skipper Shubman Gill, who didn’t take the field due to an impact injury that he suffered during a training session, will have a lot to ponder.
If day’s performance is an indicator, off-spinner Saransh Jain (0/54 in 11 overs) will find it difficult to be in contention with both Kuldeep (2/76 in 18 overs) and Manav Suthar (1/30 in 11 overs) doing well. Seasoned Ravindra Jadeja (2/64 in 15 overs) looked out of sync despite getting a couple of wickets.
Playing a red-ball game after five weeks, the pacers were understandably rusty while the spinners despite sharing bulk of the spoils didn’t look menacing enough till Kuldeep found his mojo and asked a few probing questions.
Otherwise, the Day One primarily belonged to young island batters, some of whom have just started off with their Test careers, looked at ease while facing the Indian attack on a mostly benign Nondescripts Cricket Club track which provided some purchase for Kuldeep towards the fag end of the day.
There were two Sri Lankan batters, whose batting stood on the first day.
The first one was opener Nishan Fernando (66 off 65), who played the senior Indian pacers — Mohammed Siraj (0/44 in 13 overs), and Prasidh Krishna (0/32 in 8 overs) — with ease.
Gurnoor Brar (1/49 in 12 overs) was the only pacer who looked incisive.
Fernando had recently played Tests on the tour to the West Indies.
The 110-run opening stand with Ravindu Rasantha (71 off 143 balls) had Indian pacers and spinners scurrying for cover as they scored runs at a quick clip before an unfortunate mix-up led to Fernando’s run-out.
The second one was southpaw Sonal Dinusha (52 off 72 balls), who displayed admirable technique and the only batter in the middle-order who read Kuldeep from the wrist and hit a regal straight six.
The SLC XI skipper Dinusha had scored 92 against West Indies in a Test match recently.
With another Sri Lanka international Ramesh Mendis (32 off 49) for company, he added 64 for the seventh wicket, with some fantastic hitting, the slog sweep in particular being his ‘Go-To’ shot.
Indian bowlers did have their moments, especially the manner in which Kuldeep varied the speed of his deliveries after going for 29 in five overs in his first spell.
He got Ahan Wickramasinghe with a delivery that jumped a tad when the batter tried to sweep and the top edge was taken by Brar at short-fine leg.
The second one was an arm-ball that skidded to hit the pads of Anjala Bandara.
Suthar had the best economy, and removed one of the openers Rasantha, deceiving him in flight when the batter came down the track but couldn’t reach to the pitch of the delivery.
He got another one with the second new ball with a delivery that was fired full with an angle to get a set Dinusha.
In the case of Jadeja, he didn’t initially attack the stumps but when he did, he did get the results.
However he got two wickets but looked really rusty.
Published – August 08, 2026 01:08 am IST
