It began promisingly, but in the end, the second day of India’s opening Test against Sri Lanka saw play for only 21 overs. And even those were less action-packed than the opening day’s 11.5 overs. Where Suranga Lakmal took the honours on Thursday, it was Cheteshwar Pujara’s turn to shine on Friday (November 16) at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Play had begun 15 minutes earlier on Day 2, at 9.15am, but half an hour before the scheduled lunch break, a drizzle forced the players off to bring an early end to the session. The drizzle only intensified into a downpour, and no further play was possible. Stumps were called at 2.30pm with the whole ground under covers.
India was 74 for 5 in 32.5 overs, with Pujara holding firm on 47 not out. He had stayed for 102 balls, showing exemplary judgment and the temperament of a monk, weathering everything the Sri Lankan bowlers threw at him.
In comparison, the scores of the rest of India’s top order were instructive: KL Rahul and Virat Kohli both did not score, Shikhar Dhawan got 8, Ajinkya Rahane and R Ashwin both were out for 4. At the close, Wriddhiman Saha was giving Pujara company, having got to 6 not out. Together, the rest of the top seven didn’t get to half of Pujara’s score.
There was no let up to India’s searching examination by seam. Both Rahane and Ashwin fell playing at balls from Dasun Shanaka they could have left alone, but their dismissals were also the result of Sri Lanka’s bowlers creating pressure and forcing the lapse in concentration.
Pujara, meanwhile, did the reverse: staying put, leaving balls with unerring accuracy, not letting the admittedly difficult surface play on his mind, and then reaping the rewards when the bowlers inevitably erred and their intensity, along with their lines and lengths, slipped. Pujara’s knowledge of where his off stump was, and his unending patience in letting balls go through, was an education in gutsing it out on a spicy pitch.
He was the bulwark, while Saha – the Man of the Match with twin fifties when India played a Test at his home venue a year ago on a pitch that was also pace friendly – showed good composure during the unbroken sixth-wicket stand. That it was worth 24, already the highest in the innings, told its own story.
India had resumed on 17 for 3 with much depending on how Rahane and Pujara would go. Lakmal, who taken three wickets in six overs without giving up a run on Thursday, kept at the batsmen once again. He finally conceded his first runs off the bat off the 47th ball he bowled, and that too via a streaky Rahane edge that went to the third-man boundary.
He didn’t add to his wickets tally however, with Shanaka’s gentler medium pace doing the damage. Shanaka first had Rahane wafting at one bowled in the channel and moving away for a thin edge that went through to the wicketkeeper. He then picked up Ashwin, caught at point. He had 2 for 23 at stumps, while Lakmal’s 3 for 5 in 11 overs were still mightily impressive figures, even accounting for the generous assistance from the surface and the conditions.
There was another brief moment of worry for the Indians when Lahiru Gamage got one to lift and smack Ashwin on the hand, but the offspinner resumed batting in a brief while after treatment from the physio.
Saha and Pujara had seemed to suss the conditions well and were looking more comfortable when the rain arrived, at the most inopportune time from India’s point of view.
The forecast for the coming days doesn’t look too bright either, with a thunderstorm predicted for Saturday, and more rain and drizzle to come on Sunday. In a Test that has had play effectively for just about one session overall in two days, a draw now looms as the most likely result. However, if the pitch stays spicy, the possibility of a low-scoring thriller cannot be ruled out.
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