Turns and uneven bounce on the first day’s pitch troubled the home batsmen as India reached 93 for four at tea on the first day of the second Test against Sri Lanka here on Saturday.
With the sun shining brightly, the pink ball was not enough to trouble the batsmen, but some balls remained really short, making it difficult for the home team’s batsmen.
While Mayank Agarwal (4) was run out, Rohit (15) was dismissed by left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya, who turned and bounced the ball.
Hanuma Vihari’s final stay was ended by left-arm spinner Praveen Jayavikrama, while Virat Kohli’s carefully crafted short knock ended with a ball that was really short and was dropped by off-spinner Dhananjay de Silva. Gave.
India could have lost another wicket but Rishabh Pant (16 batting) was dropped in the deep by Suranga Lakmal when he was on 4. Shreyas Iyer (1) was with him at the crease when he took the break.
Vihari (31) and Kohli (23) put on confident drives and cuts to put on a 47-run stand for the third wicket, but once it was broken, the batting looked to be a challenge.
With hardly any grass on the track at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, India opted to bat as expected, even as Rohit, who looked fluent, and Agarwal could not use the opportunity to score big .
Pacer Lakmal held up a potential off-stump line but left-arm pacer Vishwa Fernando kept it largely on middle and leg, from where Rohit played on-drive with ease. Agarwal, who sent an over to cover the boundary of the field to start with Lakmal, threw his wicket away in the second over of the day, running himself out.
Fernando appealed for a leg first but the umpire did not budge. Agarwal looked for a single but Rohit also took a few steps but stopped realizing that there was no run on offer.
But it was too late for Agarwal to get back to his crease as he was already down the halfway mark and was run out.
Left-handed Fernando dug a short and the Indian skipper put the visitors at ease with his trademark pull shot.
Left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya created an opportunity in his very first over when he gave Vihari an edge, but it fell short at first slip.
However, he got the Indian captain caught at second slip. The ball turned and bounced as it took the edge and flew towards Dhananjay de Silva, who completed the catch on the street.
Vihari survived when the umpire judged him leg before Jayavikrama’s delivery but a DRS review showed that the ball was missing from the leg-stump. He was 31 years old. However, the same bowler soon turned him back.
Kohli, who was chasing a long-pending Test century, gained confidence, but the low bounce did not allow him to last long.
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