Pujara, Rahane Sowed Seeds of Victory Before Jadeja’s Finisher
No one can deny that it was Pujara and Rahane’s twin tons that sowed the seeds of a comprehensive Indian victory.
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Ravindra Jadeja, the world no 1 bowler and the no 2 all-rounder in Tests at the moment, once again found himself in the limelight as he was adjudged the ‘Player of the Match’ in the second Test of the ongoing series against Sri Lanka at Colombo. It would appear in general that he was the main architect of this comprehensive victory for India. And why not so? After all, he played a breezy knock of 70* and then returned to claim match figures of 7/236 with the ball to demolish the hosts.
There were other performers in the match as well. However, the attention got shifted further towards the Saurashtra all-rounder when he picked up a one-match suspension just after the conclusion of the match.
6 Demerits Over 24 Months
The ICC suspended him for accumulation of six demerit points over a period of 24 months, three of which came in this match for throwing a ball dangerously towards the batsman Dimuth Karunaratne in the follow up of his own bowling. The cricket fraternity started feeling pity for the southpaw who had just helped his team to victory.
However, his thrilling performance and the drama afterwards surrounding his suspension somehow overshadowed the hard work done by two of the Indian players at the very beginning of the match. Although Jadeja provided the finishing touch, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane sowed the seeds of victory much earlier when they dug India out of a tricky situation with twin centuries.
How Jadeja Helped in India’s Onslaught Against Sri Lanka
Jadeja has been making the headlines regularly since last year with commendable batting and bowling performances. He has been instrumental in India’s run of eight consecutive Test series victories. There is little doubt that he is in the best phase of his career so far. And there was no surprise whatsoever when his blade cut deep through the Sri Lankan bowling unit and propelled India to a Himalayan total of 622/9d.
His innings of 70* off 85 deliveries which consisted of 4 fours and 3 huge sixes completely blew the Sri Lankans apart. Then he struck the last nail in the coffin with three wickets in quick succession in the second innings of the Lankans to throw them out of their comfort zone.
The world went gaga over his spell and suddenly the attention had shifted towards him. He had dismissed two well settled batsmen who were trying to take the Sri Lankan ship to safe waters. On one side there was an immensely determined and extremely gritty Dimuth Karunaratne, batting on 141, to whom the ball was appearing double or even treble of its size having batted 306 deliveries. On the other end, there was the highly experienced Angelo Mathews battling on a score of 36.
However, none could bother the southpaw enough as he dismissed both of them with venomous deliveries. With those wickets, he had struck the last nail in the coffin and Sri Lanka’s last line of defence had been breached.
Sri Lanka collapsed soon and if it hadn’t been for his spell, both of Karunaratne and Mathews might well have saved the Test for Sri Lanka. However, India had never found themselves behind and Sri Lanka had always been playing the catch up game in the match. And it was mainly due to the foundation that Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane laid in the first innings of the match. If it was not for their twin centuries, the match result could have been different.
The mammoth score of 622/9d was not achieved as a result of Jadeja’s brisk innings of 70* alone. It was mainly due to the efforts of Rahane and Pujara who digged in hard. India could have collapsed for half of their first innings total if the duo hadn’t batted the way they did.
Loss of Rahul, Kohli Was a Complication
India were in a tricky situation having lost KL Rahul and Virat Kohli in quick succession. A score of 133/3 might not read to be that tricky, but it is exactly these kind of situations that change the course of a match. Sri Lanka were ahead in that session having claimed both of those batsmen. And it was up to Pujara and Rahane to ensure that India don’t go on to lose any more wickets.
The duo were high on confidence. Pujara had just played a classy knock of 153 in the previous Test at Galle. Moreover, the feeling of playing the 50th Test match of his career also gave him positive vibes rather than nervousness. Ajinkya Rahane was also in good mental shape having registered scores of 57 and 23* in the previous Test. All they needed to do was to see off that period and carry their form in to this match.
And the duo did exactly that! Once they found their feet, there seemed to be no one who could stop them. Both of them went on their merry ways defending the good deliveries like huge walls in front of the wickets and dispatching the bad ones to the boundary wielding their willows like weapons of mass destruction.
There was class personified on both ends of the wicket. They treated us with copybook cover drives, classy straight drives, wristy flicks and even lofted shots dancing down the track. Who wouldn’t pay to watch both of them in action simultaneously?! The duo simply made the day for those present at the ground and also for those who stuck their eyes to the television sets throughout their innings.
Pujara was the one to bring up his century first, the 13th of his career and the second of the series. The 217-run partnership finally came to an end when Dimuth Karunaratne got Pujara trapped lbw in front of the stumps. However, he had already propelled India to a commanding position by then with the overall score reading 350/4. His innings of 133 (232) consisted of 11 fours and one six and it was an absolute treat to watch till it lasted.
After his dismissal, Rahane also brought up his century and only tightened India’s grip further on the match. It was the 9th Test century of his career and it came when his team needed it the most. Rahane could have well made his way to a double century. However, he also lost his wicket to a needless shot on his individual score of 132 (222). Nevertheless, he had already done the job for his country by then.
Next, it was Ravichandran Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha and finally Ravindra Jadeja who extended the Indian innings with individual scores of 54, 67 and 70* respectively. Jadeja’s knock was the most impactful among the three as it came in quick time. However, despite his late cameo, no one can deny that it was Pujara and Rahane’s twin tons that sowed the seeds of a comprehensive Indian victory.
(Prasenjit Dey is a freelance cricket writer. He can be reached at @Prosen02. The opinions expressed are the author’s own and The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)
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