India wins the Pink ball test, sealed the series by whitewashing Sri Lanka

Despite Dimuth Karunaratne’s hard fought century, Sri Lankan team failed to take any kind of advantage against India at Bangalore. The team needed 447 runs in the fourth innings but the Lankans could pose only 208 runs as team India won the test match by 238 runs. With this, Rohit Sharma won his first series as the test captain of the side and there indeed have been lots of positives from the series.

After losing to South Africa in their home turf, this series was very much important for the men in blue. Firstly, the team dropped Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ishant Sharma from the test team and it was a huge call from the selection committee and the team management. However, Hanuma Vihari and Shreyas Iyer, the two batters who replaced Pujara and Rahane in the line-up were very good and the changes have been very positive so far.

Bowlers were once again the match winners for the team. Be it Bumrah, Ashwin or Shami, everyone was fantastic and the lads once again proved that beating India in India is not just tough but almost impossible. Bumrah in this test match has also picked up his first five-wicket haul in the match and a total of 8 wickets in both the innings.

Shreyas Iyer’s form has been a massive plus point for the one day team. In the limited opportunities that the newly appointed Kolkata captain got, he showed that he has got the pedigree and if given a chance, he can be a huge asset for the Indian team. Iyer scored 92 in the first innings when all the other batters struggled while scoring 67 in the second innings and helped India reach a decent total of 303 runs.

If anything that should concern the Indian team is Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s batting form. Now, there’s a lot of attention on Virat as the former Indian captain has not scored a century in more than 2 years and his average in test cricket dropped below 50 but one should also focus on how Rohit has also failed in scoring runs. It’s definitely not that we are trying to hide Virat’s off form under Rohit’s. It is important for the team and for the nation to see these two legends of Indian cricket come back in form and dominate bowlers like they are known for.

Shreyas Iyer was adjudged as the Man of the Match for his brilliant batting in both the innings. In the post-match conference, he said, “That wasn't my normal approach, but I saw the batters struggling, so I knew I had to be attacking and put the pressure back on the bowlers. I was batting on 55 when he came in, and then I added around 40 more runs. I could have got out earlier as well, so I didn't worry about the hundred. I just wanted to bat as many balls as possible, knowing that I had some support down the order with Shami and Bumrah. I have always dreamt about playing Test cricket for India, good feeling to come and contribute, want to keep this going”.

Meanwhile, his former captain and the current captain of the Delhi team was given the Man of the Series award. In the post-match conference, Pant said, “I think both (batting and keeping), you need to keep evolving, and I’ve made mistakes in the past and want to keep improving. It's not in my mindset; the wicket was difficult to play, so I thought I will look for quick runs. I'll do whatever the team management wants me to do. I think it's more about confidence; previously, I used to think too much, now I'm only focusing on every ball”.