A lot happened at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on the second day of the second test match between India and Sri Lanka. 14 wickets fell, but the hosts again came out on top as their batsmen applied themselves better. These included captain Rohit Sharma, Hanuma Vihari, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant. While the first two put up a solid platform, the last two attacked the opposition. However, Mayank Agarwal continued to falter. Meanwhile, Bumrah also made a record which he would surely be proud of. We take a look at five talking points of the day.
- Rohit Sharma and his sweep: When India stumbled in the first innings, captain Rohit watched from the dressing room to see how wickets kept falling. He must have felt disappointed. Come day 2, Rohit got his chance as he decided to call it out midway. Especially at a time when the ball was turning square. His critics would have thought it would be another disappointment. but that did not happen. His strike rate against spinners increased to 175; Forget the numbers and go back and watch how he used his legs as he sweeps against the likes of Lasith Embuldeniya and Praveen Jayavikrama on several occasions. At one point he even played a reverse sweep! But Rohit, being Rohit, threw him when it looked like he had escaped the starting path.
- Mayank Agarwal’s poor form continues Another day, another beginning, but the drought continues. This is the story of Mayank Agarwal. The Bengaluru cricketer had a great chance to prove his worth on his home ground, however, his fate had other considerations. With a string of setbacks ahead of his name (22, 4, 33), he is not doing himself any favors. He knows he has two solid openers around his neck – KL Rahul (his good old friend) and Shubman Gill (the young prodigy) and yet he is making no impact. The problem with him is that he takes a lot of time to go, sometimes eating up to ten overs to get his shots flowing. On the other hand the bowler needs only one good ball. Unfortunately, he is not getting consistent runs from his game. This can become a problem in the long run.
- Bumrah Pfeiffer: Before the Mohali Test match, there were many who questioned Bumrah’s effectiveness on Indian pitches. With a fifer in Bengaluru, he not only surpassed the great Kapil Dev (in terms of Test innings), he also responded to his critics in style. It was his crucial spell on the second day that saw Sri Lanka lose the last four wickets in just 5.5 overs. Not to mention that Dickwella slammed him for back-to-back boundaries earlier. It was a spectacular comeback that proved how ferocious he could be on Indian pitches. Meanwhile, he succumbed to his injuries while bowling in the second innings. The wicket of Lahiru Thirimanne was an example.
- Virat Kohli victim of uneven bounce?: In such a situation, Kohli’s century drought continues. And it looks like he will have to wait till July to score a century when India take on England in the only Test match. Well, that’s not the point. The point is that Kohli is constantly playing the wrong line. And he looks scared too. Though he stepped up against the spinners at Chinnaswamy on Sunday, he was hit by an arm ball from Jayavikrama. He never felt that the ball would not rise because of the uneven bounce. Result: Plumb trapped in front!
- Young India stands before the pressure: With the ball turning viciously, Rohit Sharma and Hanuma Vihari played the waiting game. But it was Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer—India’s young talents—who played the natural game and excelled at it. Pant hit a six off the second ball. It was a classic case of ‘live with sword and die with sword’ as he scored the fastest fifty in Test matches (28 balls) for India. Unsurprisingly, he was dismissed playing nothing, which looked quite ugly on camera the very next ball. Meanwhile, Iyer used his feet well against the spinners. He played a brilliant innings of 92 runs in the first innings, it would have been better if he had got a century in the second innings. He was dismissed for 67 runs in 87 balls.
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