Sri Lanka in India, 2022

[Kumar]

What an innings from Pant! If the purpose of a game is to entertain, than Pant is top of the tops!

He has done this multiple times when he accelerates right before new ball is taken! Just a smart strategy! Fielding captains typically want to rush thru those overs using 5th bowlers and Pant demolishes bowlers during this spell! If I remember this is 4th or 5th time he has done this

[SaniaFan]

Why is India playing 2 off spinners? They should have played Kuldeep here. Sri lankan left handers is the reason?

[PKBasu]

Absurd decision to play Jayant Yadav ahead of Kuldeep, who is much the better bowler.

But what a day it was for Jadeja with bat and ball -- and indeed, Ashwin too is a superb all-rounder in Indian conditions. We are totally on top after Day 2.

[prasen9]

Everything going smoothly. When you are winning is the time to introspect. Fully agree that Kuldeep should have played. He spins the ball the same way as Jayant and investing in Kuldeep or checking out whether he can work in favorable conditions is something we need to do because Ashwin maybe will last a couple of years more or so. And, Sundar is not a very attacking, strike bowler although he is young and can and perhaps will improve.

One issue. Ashwin fell trying to hook/pull the short ball after playing one well and getting a boundary if I recall correctly. Indians seem to play the short ball by formula. Rohit and now Ashwin either are in leave mode, which Rohit usually is not, or in hit mode. And, their payoff per wicket is low against the short ball. If they have to take a blanked mode, then they should leave these balls, the net expected runs will improve that way. But, if they want to be more judicious, they need to work out with an analyst who can figure out which short balls to hit and which to let alone. For Rohit, he is good when the ball is outside the off-stump but bad when it is coming to his head. I can understand the reflexive jab but if you have had time to pull the ball, you have time to leave that ball. If it is coming to your body, you will be short-armed and the ball pop up. They should work on their shot selection against the short ball.

[khan27]

It has been going great so far for team India against the first test match and I am hope that they will get the remaining wickets of Sri Lanka before they can save the follow-on and made them bat again. I placed a bet on Team India winning by an innings and it looks very possible for me to make some great money with my risky bet. I do a lot of sports betting and cricket has been my most rewarding sport so far in my betting career so far.

[Rajiv]

Axar Patel replaces Kuldeep, so Kuldeep dropped without getting a chance. We kept on blaming the previous management…however this new one is the same I guess.

[Rajkumar Sharma]

Kuldeep requires domestic more then internationals. Axar deserve spot as he has performances in test when England played in India . Kuldeep did'nt look great with line & length in whatever games he recently played. His pitching problem is making the batters understand his deliveries. For a chinaman pitching the ball on right areas has huge impact as he keeps the batsman guessing with each deliveries.Few ranji games could make him get the lost rhythm which he lost by warming in the benches.

Jayant has got lots of support from management, getting picked in every series with average performances and in other side there is a guy in form of Shahbaz Nadeem who has 400+ FC wickets thrown away with just 2 test matches to put Axar in frame. Seasoned campaigner should have handled in better away.

[Rajiv]

What a pitch BCCI has prepared, looks like made for a 2 Day Test Match, and only last week we were complaining about Paki's about the conditions of the pitch as a bad advertisement for the game

Iyers knock could easily turn out to be a match winning innings

[Rajkumar Sharma]

No harm in preparing rank turners against Asian teams. It would have been in question if prepared against SENA countries. Great pitch made by BCCI keeping in mind both teams are from sub continent and good players against spin.

[prasen9]

Given that the pink ball favors the bowler and the frailties of the SL batting, the groundsman should have prepared a more even (meaning less assisting to the bowler) pitch. Anyway, we got to check out the mettle of Iyer and Vihari. Iyer has been taking his chances so far. Hope Vihari grabs his too. Gill must be breathing down his neck and is perhaps a better fit for #3 than #5 anyway.

Virat Kohli, arguably one of the best three MO bats we have ever produced (apart from SRT and RSD), now averages below 50. He should be rested for a while to clear his mind and play the domestics to get his form back. But, maybe for the one off test in England, we will need his expertise. Rest him for the meaningless LOI tournaments in the meanwhile.

[Rajkumar Sharma]

A megha star going back to Ranji trophy for rhythm is not an easy task. Everyone is not like SRT who had passion to play all level of the game without any ego, keeping that star value aside.But it will be good for him if he takes break and play few domestic

Want to see Sarfaraz Khan as n.o 3 probable

[PKBasu]

It's absurd that the pitch has been a sharp turner with uneven bounce from the very first session. During the daylight hours, it is a spinners' delight. Under the lights, the pacers thrive (as they always do with the pink ball). Tough for the batsmen, but Shreyas Iyer has shone, as has Pant in his own unique way.

[prasen9]

The match is over but we are sort of at about the same place as we were before except that we may have found a new #5.

The opening is pretty shaky and dodgy. I guess we will go in with Rohit and Rahul and keep Gill as the backup batsman backing up both the opening and the middle order slot, whichever is empty next. It is a tad harsh on Mayank but he has hardly scored abroad and the next match is in England. I hope they take Sarfaraz. Looking at the youngsters, how good is this Priyam Garg guy? He surely has started with a bang, was in our U-19 team and got a lot of money in the IPL. I might as well send him unless we want to send a seasoned guy like Manish Pandey. I hope they do not bring back Pujara and Rahane.

[prasen9]

So Jadeja scores more runs than Pant and gets 10 wickets and Pant gets the MOS award?

[SaniaFan]

That is because his contribution in 2nd match was minimal. only 1 wicket and 22 and 13 runs. BTW pant also had 8 CT/ST in the series.