India vs Sri Lanka 2nd Test: In the second Test match against Sri Lanka at the historic Sinhalese Sports Club Cricket Ground in Colombo, Indian team’s wicketkeeper batsmen Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel have established a wonderful and unique record. Returning from injury, Pant and Jurrell put on a strong partnership of 112 runs for the seventh wicket. Along with this, he has created a new history on the soil of Sri Lanka by breaking the 11-year-old record of Cheteshwar Pujara and Amit Mishra.
The Indian cricket team played its first Test match on Sri Lankan soil in August 1985. It has been 41 years since this. This is only the second time in the 41-year long history of Test cricket when an Indian pair has put on more than 100 runs for the seventh wicket or below in Sri Lanka. Earlier in 2015, Cheteshwar Pujara and Amit Mishra added 104 runs for the eighth wicket at the same Sinhalese ground in Colombo. But Pant and Jurrell scored 112 runs to overtake them in the run-getter.
Pant’s aggressive comeback despite injury
Rishabh Pant retired hurt due to a ball hitting his wrist during the first day’s play on Sunday August. But on Monday, after the dismissal of Saransh Jain, Pant again entered the field to bat. He made a brilliant comeback with an important innings of 63 runs, which included 6 fours and 2 sixes. On the other hand, Dhruv Jurel scored an unbeaten 95, showing incredible patience. This pair strengthened the middle order and strengthened the position of the Indian team.
11th time a huge score of 400 plus runs in Colombo
This is the 11th time a team has scored a mammoth score of over 400 runs in the first innings of a Test match at the Sinhalese Sports Club Stadium in Colombo. Past statistics show that whenever a team has scored more than 400 runs in the past, 6 of them have won, while 4 have been drawn. The Indian team had also strengthened their grip on the match by scoring 475 runs for 8 wickets by the time of tea on this ground.
India’s first innings
After winning the toss in the match, Indian captain Shubman Gill decided to bat first. India lead the series 1-0 after winning the first Test at Galle in August. In the first innings, opener Yashaswi Jaiswal scored 45 runs and K.L. Rahul scored 18 runs. Devdutt Padikkal then scored his second Test century of the series with a brilliant innings of 117 runs off 193 balls with 12 fours. Captain Gill contributed 50 runs and Ravindra Jadeja contributed 43 runs. For Sri Lanka, Asita Fernando took 4 wickets and Keshara Nuvantha took 2 wickets, while Prabhat Jayasuriya and Lahiru Kumara got 1 wicket each.