Comment; Another stunning reversal at Galle

Teams like Australia, Sri Lankans and Pakistan have churned out jailbreak wins at Galle from hopeless situations

The Galle International Stadium is one of the most picturesque cricketing venues around the globe. Built against the backdrop of the Galle Fort and the Indian Ocean, the stadium offers a breath-taking and mesmerising view.

In recent years, the pitches at the venue have been ideal for some edge-of-the-seat Test cricket and the latest Sri-Lanka-India encounter would now be etched as another such chapter in the amazing Galle story.

Teams like Australia, Sri Lankans and Pakistan have churned out jailbreak wins at Galle from seemingly hopeless situations.

Similarly, after conceding a more than sizeable lead in the first innings and staring down the barrel with a whopping 192-run dearth, the hosts were poised for a humbling defeat. If the deficit wasn’t enough, the Lankans were found reeling at 5-3 in their second innings.

After promising big, but delivering little, in the three-match series against Pakistan preceding the current series, Dinesh Chandimal finally put the demons to rest with a magnificent 162-run unbeaten century in the second innings that helped his team claw back in a contest that they had no business winning.

Chandimal’s 169-ball stay initially lifted the sagging Sri Lankan spirits and Rangana Herath — the 37-year-old spin wizard — seized the momentum decisively by scything through a batting line-up that supposedly thrives on slow, turning tracks.

India began their 176-run chase on the fourth day at 23 for one, opener Shikhar Dhawan who had posted a serene century in the first innings, buckled under the relentless demands of a fourth day wicket. He suppressed his natural game and chose to stonewall at one end, as wickets started tumbling at the other.

Batting often becomes incredibly tough in such situations; especially as quality spinners choke runs by delivering the ball at a nagging line and length and perhaps India needed Dhawan to counter attack with some gusto.

But Dhawan couldn’t come to grips with the demands of the situation, eventually offering a gentle catch to Kaushal off his own bowling — the fifth of the innings — in an extremely tame dismissal in the circumstances.

Dhawan’s demise put the task beyond India. Ajinkya Rahane fought a lone battle with the lower order before succumbing to Herath’s wiles after a dogged 36. Soon it was all over as Amit Mishra was snapped by a close-in fielder.

The chastening defeat is set to haunt the Indians as they attempt to win their first series in the Pearl Island for over two decades. A game that they dominated from the outset slipped out of their grip in the dying moments.

To lose a Test match from a position of almost absolute control is a tough pill to swallow, and the fire-breathing new captain Virat Kohli has a colossal task of re-gathering his beleaguered troops before Colombo.

Kohli and his charges had an iron grip in Galle, but it all came to nothing at the end. The Delhi-born captain is yet to win a Test in four outings and his detractors must be keeping a close eye on proceedings in Colombo.

By selecting five bowlers for Galle, Kohli bucked the four bowlers’ trend that MS Dhoni had kept intact in his long stint at the helm and during the wretched chase yesterday, Kohli must have desperately missed an additional batsman.

It would indeed be interesting to note if he has faith left in his ‘five bowlers theory’ after the Galle nightmare.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 16^th, 2015.

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