Bowling in the 2nd Innings Was Much More Difficult, Says Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Nov 20, 2017 at 5:28 PM
The opening Test between India and Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata ended in a draw but not before some impressive display of pace bowling by the Indian pacers on the final day of the match.
They almost pulled off a sensational victory and bagged 7 Sri Lankan wickets in 26 overs when bad light again brought a premature end to the day’s play. As Kolkata is in the eastern region, the light tends to fade away pretty sooner, and it was evident on all days of the Test match.
Especially after losing almost two days it didn’t look like the match would go down this far and all credit to the hosts for making a stunning comeback. Sri Lanka was in charge of the Test for the majority of the game, but it was the sensational opening partnership between KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan which wiped of the big lead of 118 runs which Sri Lanka took in the 1st innings.
The situation of India almost forcing a victory was possible only due to a magnificent century by Virat Kohli early on Day 5. He played some extraordinary shots en route to his 104 of 119 deliveries which included 12 fours and a couple of sixes.
He has always been a positive skipper, and it was on display yet again as he declared the innings giving Sri Lanka an unlikely victory target to chase.
Fast bowlers Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled their heart out. Bhuvi was the pick of the Indian bowlers finishing with exceptional figures of 4/8 while Mohammed Shami returned with 2/34. Due to his excellent bowling performance all through the match, Bhuvneshwar bagged the player of the Match Award.
Here is what Bhuvneshwar said in the post-match presentation:
“It was difficult to bowl in the second innings because the ball was coming onto the bat. There was reverse swing, so looked to make the most out of it. When I made my debut, I was dependant on swing. There were areas I wanted to improve and those things are paying off. When we went in, Virat said – just imagine if you were playing in the same situation, it’s never easy. So we went in with that mindset.”