Sri Lanka vs India Day 3: Rahane's catching, Kohli's captaincy and Ashwin's bowling

When Sri Lanka were 108 for 5 at lunch, it appeared India would have the Test wrapped up by tea. A splendid attacking, and unbeaten 162 from Dinesh Chandimal put those thoughts to rest and Sri Lanka ended up setting India a target of 176 to win the first Test at Galle. The nine overs Sri Lanka bowled before the close was enough to gain the wicket of KL Rahul while India managed 23 runs, leaving them another 153 to get on the fourth day. There was also the small matter of a new world record. Ajinkya Rahane was brilliant in the slips and has taken eight catches in the Test, breaking the world record of seven set by a host of players. Here are three things we think are worth point out from the day’s play: Ajinkya Rahane should be a fixture in the slips The commentators on Sony Six were hammering this point on air with regularity and I agree with them wholeheartedly. It isn’t simply because Rahane broke the record for most catches; it was how he took his catches. [caption id=“attachment_2393182” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Virat Kohli’s response during one stretch was to vary his bowlers practically every over, a tactic that is often used in Twenty20 cricket. AP[/caption] A slip fielder needs to be alert, to watch the ball, and have good balance and soft hands. Rahane showed all those attributes today, in particular with the catch he took to get rid of Lahiru Thirimanne. The ball bounced more than Thirimanne expected and he prodded at it. Rahane, anticipating the ball would go wide, started to move to his left. But the ball went fine instead. Somehow, while falling to his left, Rahane managed to adjust and snare the ball inches of the ground with both hands. Such was Rahane’s momentum in the opposite direction that he still rolled over to his left before coming with the ball. The look on Rahane’s face suggested even he was surprised he caught it but the catch showcased his ability to watch the ball and his excellent reflexes. Rahane has also been working on his slip catching. “I feel when you stand in the slips, your focus and concentration is the key,” Rahane said after the day’s play. “Your temperament has to be there, to turn on and off in between deliveries.” He also said he spoke to Rahul Dravid during the IPL season and Dravid told him that it was important to maintain focus because the ball may not come your way for a long time in Test cricket. India’s slip cordon has been a house of horrors since Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman walked off into the sunset. On day one, there was a rotating cast of characters that moved through the slips, which doesn’t allow the fielders to settle or to get used to each other. Slip catching is as much as specialisation as opening the batting and no team would consider sending a different set of batsmen to open every innings. Giving Rahane a permanent spot in the slips offers India the chance to start getting it right more often than wrong. Virat Kohli’s captaincy and the danger of forcing the issue Sri Lanka were seven wickets down but Dinesh Chandimal was bossing the situation and Sri Lanka’s lead was growing steadily, a situation that looked unlikely at lunch. Kohli was looking for ways to limit the damage but none of his bowlers, with the possible exception of Ashwin, were threatening on a regular basis. Kohli’s response during one stretch was to vary his bowlers practically every over, a tactic that is often used in Twenty20 cricket, where Kohli first honed his captaincy chops. Ishant Sharma bowled the 72nd over. Amit Mishra bowled the 73rd. That was followed by Ashwin bowling the 74th. Then it was Mishra again followed by Ishant and then Ashwin. Mishra picked up the wicket of Rangana Herath in his first over during the sequence but that wasn’t enough for Kohli to give him more than a two-over spell. Kohli was clearly looking for a spark and we know he likes to be aggressive and make things happen. But there is always the danger of going too far and doing too much. When you rotate your bowlers this much, you run the risk of messing up their rhythm and in Test cricket, getting in a good rhythm is the key to good bowling. You expect Kohli will find a balance with experience. But it was a reminder that while Kohli offers a change from MS Dhoni’s passiveness; his approach comes with its own set of risks as well. Ashwin is now the leader of India’s bowling attack Ashwin took four wickets in the second innings to give him 10 for the match for the first time outside of India. This follows his 6 for 46 in the first innings, which were also his best figures outside of his home country. Yes, the pitched turned from day one and there was bounce too, so you’d expect Ashwin to be among the wickets. But that argument holds for Harbhajan Singh too, who managed just the solitary victim from 25 overs. The difference was in the way they exploited the conditions to their advantage. As we wrote on day one, Ashwin’s bowling had loop, drift and turn. Dinesh Chandimal in the second innings aside, none of the Sri Lankan batsmen looked comfortable against him. He was the one bowler who looked like might get a wicket at any stage, which cannot be said of the rest of India’s bowling attack. Varun Aaron was worrying inconsistent again. Ishant Sharma was pedestrian, as was Harbhajan. Amit Mishra did threaten more often in second innings than the first, and picked up three wickets, but he still struggles to consistently bowl the right pace to cause doubt in a batsman’s mind at the international level. Ishant Sharma is currently the most experienced bowler in the side and there was talk of his being the leader of the attack, an assertion Ishant actually denied. He is right. On the evidence of this display, the leader of the pack is clearly and definitely Ashwin.