Pradeep unhappy despite six scalps

Nuwan Pradeep was the lone bright spot in another poor show by Sri Lanka in the first two days of the opening Test here. The paceman claimed 6/130, spread equally over the two days, for his maiden five-wicket haul in Tests but his joy had tinge of disappointment as India still managed to post 600 all out.

“Can’t be happy with the performance,” said Pradeep after the day’s play. “A lot of our plans went badly. We had to go to new plans but they didn’t always work as well. We came to the match with a plan. But the way the match went and given the state of the pitch, we had to change our plans. Some of the things we did didn’t go well. I did as well as I could. But cricket is like that and you have to stick at it. At least we could get them for 600,” he reasoned.

Pradeep was spent force by the time he had taken four wickets but he persevered and gave it all to reap the just reward. “When you get four wickets, you would have bowled 15-16 overs, and you’re very tired after that. If you’re bowling more than that you still have to maintain that intensity and still bowl quickly. I think I did that.

“I maintained that intensity and bowled fast in my later spells. I think I couldn’t get to that fifth wicket before because of tiredness.”

The right-arm quick used the bouncer to good effect and dismissed Virat Kohli and R Ashwin in similar fashion. “He’s (Kohli) one of the best batsmen in the world. I’m very happy to have got him out like that. For a batsman like him we plan a lot. It was one of our plans that worked against him, and I’m really happy about that,” he said.

Lankan team’s bowling coach Chaminda Vaas hoped the remaining Lankan batsmen would help them save the match.

“At the moment Angelo Mathews and Dilruwan Perera are batting well, so tomorrow hopefully they will stay at the wicket and bat well until lunch.”