On dancing feet, Iyer finds answers

What does one expect on a pitch that turns square and balls keep very low as early as the second hour of the opening day? Especially given how inept a vast majority of modern batters are in tackling such conditions.

Well, wickets falling like tenpins. And that’s exactly what happened here on Saturday.

First the Indians folded up for 252 in 59.1 overs on the stroke of dinner and then their red-hot bowlers, already licking their lips seeing the spitfire of a surface at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, reduced the Sri Lankans to 86/6 at stumps in the second Test as the packed audience ended up lapping up an entertainment.

When the groundsmen kept shaving off plenty of grass from the wicket on the eve of the pink-ball Test, giving it a very dry brown look, one had the premonition that it was going to aid spin from day one. But the curator got more than what he wished for. Balls started turning sharply within the first hour, some kept very low while some spat off the surface.

Such was the help, that left-armers Lasith Embuldeniya (3/94) and Praveen Jayawickrama (3/81), no offence meant, looked like world-class spinners capable of picking a wicket off every ball. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, who had no hesitation in opting to bat first, knew he and his batters were in for a stern examination. It was like batting on a worn out fifth day track rather than a fresh one.

Sadly, barring Shreyas Iyer (92, 98b, 132m, 10x4, 4x6), who looked like he was batting on a completely different surface, and to some extent Rishabh Pant (39, 26b, 7x4) and Hanuma Vihari (31, 81b, 4x4), most of the others were undone by the pitch.

To succeed on such pitches where the spinners hold the upper hand, the batters need to use their feet. To the balls which are full, they need to step down to smother the spin. They also need play off the back foot to the ones that are slightly short. The decision-making needs to be quick and precise. Indecisions could spell doom.

Only Shreyas, a fantastic player of spin, exhibited those skills. Drawing upon his immense first-class experience where he has played on such surfaces countless times, Shreyas was magical with his footwork. Except for an attempted reverse sweep early on in his innings, he was utterly dominant, knowing exactly when to step out or in the crease. The silken cover-drives, lofted shots over midwicket, straight drives…Shreyas looked a class apart.

Others simply struggled. Unaware whether a ball was going to turn sharply or keep low, they chose to play off the back foot, buying themselves the extra second to read it. But it didn’t help as the movement was too much for them to handle, most of them perishing due to over-reliance of playing on the back foot.

The Indians were able to post 252 simply because the inexperienced duo of Embuldeniya and Jayawickrama were unable to sustain the pressure. Their every over had a release ball — very short or very full — and the Indians were smart enough to spank those freebies to the boundaries. They barely left a bad ball alone, and there were plenty of them towards the end of the innings.

The two previous pink-ball Tests in India have seen lightening quick finishes and this one is seemingly heading that way.

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