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Bowlers come to fore for India

Cricket : Ashwin, Mishra, Ishant help the team script a spectacular turnaround
Last Updated 02 September 2015, 18:22 IST

An away series win by an Indian side is an extraordinary achievement and this coming from a team emerging out of transition definitely deserves plenty of plaudits, the standout feature of the 2-1 triumph being the incredible performance of the bowlers and the tenacity of skipper Virat Kohli.

It’s no great secret that one needs to take 20 wickets to win a Test match and the Indians dismissing the Sri Lankans in all six innings of the three-match series was the cornerstone behind this historical victory.

While it was the spinners R Ashwin and Amit Mishra who played the key roles in the first two Tests, lead pacer Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav set the stage beautifully in the final game, their discipline, patience and perseverance providing a refreshing sight.

With 21 wickets —  the highest by any bowler from either side — Ashwin emerged as the top of the pick. His approach to stick to the stock off-spinners, bringing just minor variations and extracting the most off the pitches proved too much for most young Sri Lankans batsmen who simply failed to read him.

His partner, leg-spinner Mishra, was not far behind either with 15 scalps. Coming into the side after a four-year hiatus, the 32-year-old bowled with lot of verve and hunger. Aware that only a few more years of cricket is left in him, the Haryanvi was not only on the mark with his leg-breaks and googlies but shone with the bat as well. With 159 runs, including crucial 59 and 39 in the final Test, Mishra’s contributions with the bat were remarkable.

Often criticised for not being able to close out matches and allowing the tail to flourish, the Indian pacers showed a new edge to them this series. Both Ishant and Yadav provided the early breakthroughs and when the ball wasn’t doing much, they didn’t waver off the trajectory but kept things tight that actually allowed Ashwin and Mishra to attack relentlessly.

With quite a bit of chopping and changing — some enforced due to injuries and some done to arrive at a settled order — the batting fired in fits and starts. Shikhar Dhawan scored a century despite suffering a hairline fracture in the first Test, KL Rahul impressed with a determined ton in the second Test where Ajinkya Rahane set the win up with a pugnacious century in the second innings. Cheteshwar Pujara, returning to the playing XI for the final Test after losing his place following a string of poor scores, showed how valuable he is with a stunning 145 in the final Test.

While the opening unit as such failed to click in tandem, thanks to three different pairs in as many matches, the middle-order batted well. They hardly allowed the Galle disaster where they folded up for 112 while chasing 176 for win to affect them, with someone or the other putting their hand up and making match-winning contributions.

Skipper Kohli, who started the series with a century, deserves praise for the way he marshalled his troops. Preaching aggression from the word go, the skipper allowed his wards to play fearless cricket, the intention to win being the main mantra. Although he has led teams since his junior days and even the Indian side for three Tests prior to the start of this series, a full tour can be a demanding task but he has passed the baptism with plenty of ticks.

There is, however, always scope for improvement and one of the important areas that needs to be addressed is slip fielding. Rahane was brilliant to the spinners but some of the others showed hard hands standing in the close cordon to fast bowlers.

Quite a number of catches were put down and while they went unpunished largely here, the same may not apply always.

Taking nothing away from this triumph, the Indians will have to assess the quality of the opposition that they beat. Following the retirement of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, who bid adieu to international cricket after the second match in this series, are stuck in the middle of transition. Most of them are youngsters and hardly offered a fight, with only Angelo Mathews being the consistent performer.

A bright start has been made to a new era in Indian cricket. The challenge is to maintain consistency, something that will be tested when tougher teams like South Africa come calling next month.

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(Published 02 September 2015, 18:22 IST)

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