IND vs SL 1st Test Day 1: Rishabh Pant pummelling puts India in charge

Wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant makes whirlwind 96 as Sri Lanka bowlers struggle on Day 1 of the first Test in Mohali.

Given how he bats, it won’t be presumptive to say Rishabh Pant fell a boundary short of his fifth Test hundred. Virat Kohli, playing his 100th Test, didn’t even cross fifty but Hanuma Vihari, playing his 100th first-class match, did. The partnerships kept coming along nicely though as India scored at well over four runs an over to pile up 357/6 at the end of Day 1 of the first Test against Sri Lanka at Mohali on Friday.

Pant plays a shot on day one of the first Test match between India and Sri Lanka (ANI)

For a team exploring a future without Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara for the first time since 2012, this unfinished innings is already a major leg-up to their middle-order ambitions. With Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin at the crease, India’s hope of batting once and batting big haven’t been completely extinguished.

The individual efforts, though promising, were a little rough around the edges. Vihari could have finished with more. Shreyas Iyer looked primed to follow up on his exploits of the home tour of New Zealand with another substantial knock when he fell. Iyer made 27 but his 53-run stand for the fifth wicket was prelude to a storm Sri Lanka were not prepared for. From 50 off 73 balls to 96 off 97, Pant led an assault so devastating that it left the visitors looking for cover as India added 158 runs in the last session. From a slightly uncomfortable position at tea, India had moved to a position of strength. On a selectively watered Mohali pitch that was bare on spinners’ good length and slightly grassier on the pacers’ length, Sri Lanka’s bowling shortcomings were exposed.

Bowling blues

Lahiru Kumara, their third pacer, broke down after 10.5 overs in which he had already conceded 52. And barring Embuldeniya at the start, rarely did anyone else look to at least challenge the off-stump. Forty four boundaries and nine no-balls were conceded while Sri Lanka could only muster six maidens. Morning showed the day when Sharma and Agarwal raised 50 in just 59 balls. Till he was caught at long leg off a third attempted pull to the boundary off Kumara, Sharma did no wrong. India’s second oldest Test captain after Anil Kumble, Sharma, 34, was off the blocks with a flurry of boundaries to set the early pace as Sri Lanka struggled with their lengths.

Agarwal too settled quickly to punish Lanka’s bowling till Embuldeniya beat the inside edge and trapped him in front of stumps. But India’s momentum was rarely impeded. By the time Agarwal was dismissed, Vihari had strapped himself to the pitch. As long as Kohli was on the front foot, he connected almost everything. But once again, Embuldeniya forced a false shot with a ball that spun past Kohli’s bat. The tea session was possibly least detrimental to Sri Lanka’s cause but they still conceded 90 runs. The wickets of Vihari and Pant they picked up though meant Pant and Iyer had a repair job.

In a session Sri Lanka should have been most upbeat about restricting India, they were hammered into submission. And it wasn’t some hatchet job but a cold, calculated assault led by Pant. Where Sri Lanka may have erred was in setting defensive fields when they should have been attacking Pant’s stumps. Pant kept rotating the strike, finding boundaries regularly while slowly pulling India out of a spot. Breaching the 200-run mark in the 55th over, Pant slowly started to open up. End of the 75th over, batting on 50 off 75, Pant finally decided to cut loose.

First in his crosshairs was Embuldeniya. Two consecutive sixes over midwicket and wide long-on quickly prompted the left-arm spinner to drop it shorter. This time Pant rocked back and slammed him through extra-cover for a boundary. One more boundary through point off the last ball and Pant had raced to 72 off 81 by the end of that over. Then, Dhananjaya de Silva conceded a four and a six before leaking two boundaries again in his next over. Pant and Ravindra Jadeja added 100 in just 108 balls. A scrambled seam delivery from Suranga Lakmal finally put an end to the carnage as Pant casually tried to defend it, only to find the ball sneaking through bat and pad to hit his off stump.