Pujara, Rahane hundreds give India advantage on Day1

Pujara and Rahane joined hands for a solid 211* stand
Image Credit: india Today

The scoreboard of 344/3 would tell that the first day of Second Test at Colombo hints at a story similar to India's Day-1 score of 399 at Galle,last week. The impact was similarly ruthless, but this time in face of adversity.

When Kohli fell at 13, with an exceptional catch at slip by Mathews, India were left at 133/3, facing a stern test for the first time in the series. Sri Lanka was one wicket away at the 39th over to break open India's lower order. But it was not be.

That 39th over in which Kohli got out,was a maiden. The next maiden was 87th over-in between was a savage attack by Pujara and Rahane, who dominated the spin dominated Sri Lankan attack, with chance-less ease.

The special 50th test couldn't have begun in a better way for India's number 3. Cheteshwar Pujara showed his higher gears, as soon as he crossed his first 50 runs off 112 balls. In the next 52 balls, he reached his 13th test century- almost at double the pace. It was special in many ways-a third century in as many tests he has played in Sri Lanka. It was made more special by a couple of milestones- First, he brought up his 4000 test runs in as many innings as Rahul Dravid- the man he is often compared to, only behind Sunil Gavaskar and Virender Sehwag. Second, the announcement of Arjuna Award being conferred to him came late in the evening. And the best part was that he was unbeaten on 128* at stumps, along with the other hero of the day- Ajinkya Rahane.

Rahane seemed in a different zone, right from the start. In a clear sign of counterattack, he did't hold himself back for anything short and made good use of the feet against the left-arm spinners. He played some crisps shot over the cover fielder, and brought up his 9th hundred at the fag end of the day. India made 137 off 30 overs in the post-lunch session, propelling their overall score to 344, at a rate of 3.8- and all this on a pitch that wasn't the best surface for batting. It has a low and slow attribute to it-which will make batting only tougher in the next four days.

Earlier, Virat Kohli won an important toss and had no second thoughts about batting first. With Mukund making way for Rahul, India opened with Dhawan and Rahul. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, were playing with one seamer and 4 spinners- a strategy that will raise eyebrows. It meant return of their captain Dinesh Chandimal in place of injured Asila, debut for left-arm spinner Pushpakumara and Gunathilaka making way for Dhananjaya De Silva.

Dhawan started in the same fashion as Galle, with an onslaught of boundaries- before he was caught plumb by a Dilruwan Perera delivery, as confirmed by the DRS review taken by the home side. When Pujara joined Rahul, the latter took on the aggressor's role before losing his wicket in a mix-up between him and Pujara. Kohli fell quickly too, leaving India at 133/3.

On the second day, India would look to bat out Sri Lanka with another 600+ score and then make most of the pitch that looks to help spinners as the game goes into third day.