SL v IND, 1st Test, Lunch Report: Dhawan, Pujara Lift India After Early Loss Of Mukund
Jul 26, 2017 at 4:46 PM
Early Loss For India
Abhinav Mukund yet again failed to utilise the lucky break he was offered today as the Tamil Nadu left hander put down his wicket with just 12 runs during his short his 26 balls stay in the first hour of the opening Test of the three match series at the Galle International Stadium.
It was a pleasant gift to fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep in the first session. Mukund made it to the Xi and opened with Shikhar Dhawan after both the regular opener Murali Vijay and preferred choice for his replacement KL Rahul were ruled out due to injuries.
The pitch looked typical in its nature and did not promise much to the fast bowlers. The pitch was hard with a good amount of grass and the carry and movement were reasonable after the first couple of overs. But, it was understandable that the pitch was a batting friendly track as it offered nothing special to the new ball bowlers – Lahiru Kumara and Nuwan Pradeep.
However, a careless approach from Mukund gave Sri Lanka their first breakthrough as his attempt to poke an angling delivery, bowled on an outside off stump line, ended as a catch behind the wickets. Pradeep was smart enough create an enough luring enough to coax Mukund into playing the false shot.
He continued with good accuracy and maintained a probing line thereafter as well. Kumara also did an impressive job but the hosts could find any further breakthrough in the first session. Dhawan and Pujara fully optimised the nature of wicket in their favour and added runs with flair and comfort to frustrate the hosts. The morning session also saw a couple of dropped chances which would make the Lankans tad unhappy about their performance.
The most vital drop was of Dhawan. The left hander was dropped by Gunaratne off Kumara’s bowling. The dropped catch not only cost Sri Lanka an important wicket it also caused an injury scare to the fielder.
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A good toss to win
Earlier, Virat Kohli opted to bat first. Seam bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya was handed over his Test debut beating competition from of Rohit Sharma for the No. 6 position. Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav also missed out to win a place.
two frontline quicks in Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav and two spinners in R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
Murali Vijay, who is yet to recover from the wrist injury and KL Rahul, who is down with viral fever, were unavailable for selection. Shikhar Dhawan and Abhinav Mukund, therefore, formed the opening pair.
Brief Score:
India: 115/1 after 27 overs (Dhawan 64*, Pradeep 1/22)