India’s path to WTC final becomes even tougher despite series win

Thursday’s slow winding down of the second Test, had shades of the 1980s. Back then as the game stretched into the mandatory overs of the fifth day, Sunil Gavaskar or a Javed Miandad would wheel their arm over.

The fact that Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel ambled towards the bowling crease, also reflected the way India’s fortunes had crashed in a drawn contest that was all about Sri Lanka’s fightback.

During the course of this game at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) Ground, a charity match in another venue had featured Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda de Silva. Just as nostalgia’s waves drenched the Sri Lankan cricketing fraternity, a hint of batting evolution was also underlined by the magnificent Sonal Dinusha.

The southpaw amassed 420 runs averaging 140, and specifically his unbeaten 133 in the second innings, prevented India from sweeping the series 2-0. Just like how in the past, V.V.S. Laxman undermined Australia’s best-laid plans, Dinusha did the same with the Indians.

The stalemate here and Bangladesh’s heroics at Darwin and the eventual 1-1 verdict in the series Down Under, has further affected India, placed fifth in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) points table. The two-Test away series in New Zealand and the five games against Australia in the Indian backyard, have become must-win options for Gill’s men.

If recency-bias forces a closer scrutiny over events at the SSC, it would be prudent to recall that India’s inexplicable vulnerability at home, like the loss to South Africa, had a bearing on the team’s position in the WTC cycle.

Stepping into this two-Test series without the services of the injured trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Sai Sudharsan and Washington Sundar, churn was evident in the Indian ranks. But the manner in which Player-of-the-Series Devdutt Padikkal batted in both Tests, and the glimpses of classical talent that left-arm spinner Manav Suthar offered, augurs well.

Stepping in at No. 3, Padikkal, as Sri Lankan coach Gary Kirsten mentioned, revealed good Test batsmanship. His tons at Galle and in the Sri Lankan capital had both solidity and fluidity. The southpaw never got into a shell, kept the scoreboard ticking and perhaps has done enough to stay on at No. 3 even after Sai Sudharsan returns.

Suthar, meanwhile, has an old-world feel. He goads the ball to spin a yarn and leads batters to their doom. While much has been discussed about a batting order that has moved on from Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane, it is a fact that the spin-quotient will miss the guile of R. Ashwin for sometime.

While Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel made vital contributions with the bat, the no-balls peddled by the spinners, specifically Ravindra Jadeja, and the altercation between Jaiswal and Asitha Fernando, were all a cause for worry. The road ahead is critical and coach Gautam Gambhir and Gill have to forge a squad that will prosper both at home and away.