New Delhi. By the end of the third day's play in the Test match being played between India and Sri Lanka in Galle, Team India definitely looked in a strong position, but a small mistake on the field changed the equation of the match to a great extent. The Indian team had a great opportunity to follow-on Sri Lanka within 200 runs. At one point, Sri Lanka had lost five wickets for only 90 runs and it seemed that the Indian bowlers would soon wrap up the entire innings. But after this, missing a catch proved to be a big turning point for the host team.
In the 36th over of Sri Lanka's innings, Manav Suthar troubled Niroshan Dickwella with his ball. The flighted ball hit the outer edge of Dickwella's bat and the ball went rapidly towards KL Rahul standing in the slips. Rahul tried to catch the catch by diving to the right but the ball slipped out of his hands. At that time Dickwella was batting only on 20 runs. This opportunity was very important for the Indian team because Sri Lanka was already under pressure and the fall of one more wicket could have ended their innings quickly.
But after missing the catch, Dickwella troubled the Indian bowlers a lot. He along with Sonal Dinusha took charge of Sri Lanka's innings. Both the batsmen made a big partnership of 146 runs for the sixth wicket. Dickwella took full advantage of the gift of life and played an important inning of 80 runs in 115 balls. Whereas Sonal Dinusha remained at the crease for about four and a half hours and scored a brilliant century and made the Indian bowlers yearn for wickets for a long time.
This partnership changed the entire atmosphere of the match. The Sri Lankan team, whose five wickets had fallen for only 90 runs, reached 284 runs in no time. To give follow-on to India, it was necessary to stop Sri Lanka from reaching the mark of 263 runs but the partnership of Dickwella and Dinusha ended this hope of the Indian team. Sri Lanka got themselves out of the follow-on situation by scoring 284 runs.
Talking about Indian bowlers, Manav Suthar bowled brilliantly and took four wickets. Ravindra Jadeja sent three batsmen to the pavilion while the famous Krishna Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav got one success each. Indian bowlers kept Sri Lanka's top order under constant pressure but the partnership of Dickwella and Dinusha in the lower order spoiled the hard work of Team India.
Rain also disrupted play after the end of Sri Lanka's first innings. The umpires decided to end play on the third day prematurely as rain had started. However, India still has a lead of 178 runs and on the fourth day, Team India will proceed with this lead in its second innings. India still have a chance to take control of the match but after giving Sri Lanka a chance to avoid follow-on, the match has become a bit more challenging than before.
There is also a lot of discussion regarding KL Rahul's catch in this match. If Dickwella had caught that catch, Sri Lanka's score and the outcome of the innings could have been completely different. Although in cricket a catch does not end the match and India still has the lead, but in Test cricket such small opportunities often turn into big differences. Now Team India will focus on batting on the fourth day where it will try to take a big lead and set a strong target for Sri Lanka.
This tour is also challenging for the new fielding coach of the Indian team, Subhdeep Ghosh. Team India will have to focus on capitalizing on such opportunities in the future because in long Test matches, one catch or one partnership often changes the direction of the entire match. Now the biggest challenge before India in the Galle Test will be to learn from the mistakes of the third day and strengthen its hold on the match on the fourth day.