Victory achieved with the ball: Indian bowlers score a perfect 60 out of 60 in Sri Lanka

Colombo: In a basement room at the Sydney Cricket Ground, the India captain addressed a last press conference of the Test series. Virat Kohli looked tired after leading the team in a match they almost lost because his bowlers conceded 200-plus runs in the last session on day four.

It was in sharp contrast to Adelaide, where Kohli had led India for the first time. There he had almost tasted victory, crusading alone, on the might of his bat. In Sydney, he found out that this job wasn’t going to be so easy.. “We need to find more discipline in the bowling attack, and build pressure,” was the theme of his press conference.

Seven months later, Kohli sat in a first floor room at the Sinhalese Sports Club and Kohli attributed India’s first series win in 22 years to the bowling unit, with good reason. The bowlers had taken all sixty wickets to beat Sri Lanka 2-1 It is a remarkable achievement, however you look at it.

Kohli talked about seizing moments that mattered, particularly in the last two Tests so that they could overturn the shocking result in Galle. Two passages of play hold great importance here.

At the P Sara Oval, on day three morning, the pitch had evened out nicely for the batsmen. Angelo Mathews and Lahiru Thirimanne got going and added 84 runs without losing a wicket. They weren’t on top because the Indian attack didn’t let them cut loose, yet it was an all-too familiar situation. On their previous tours to South Africa, New Zealand, England and Australia, India had suffered through many such sessions and lost discipline thereafter, never stitching together pressure from both ends.

It was the same at the SSC on day five as India searched for a series win. Mathews, again, and debutant Kusal Perera batted beautifully in the middle session on a pitch that was getting better for batsmen as the match progressed. They added 135 runs at a rate of 3.5 per over but India did not panic. As tea approached, the bowlers dried up the runs and Perera threw away his wicket with an ill-timed reverse sweep.

In both these circumstances, Ishant Sharma did the trick with the second new ball. He might have gotten himself suspended for unnecessary theatrics, But let it also be said that he bowled with a certain hostility throughout the series.

But, in these sub-continental conditions, Ishant was never going to be the most lethal bowler. That is where R Ashwin stepped into the picture. He worked out a rhythm in the first innings at Galle and never let go off it. In every innings, there was at least one particular spell wherein the batsmen were unable to handle him. Every single delivery looked as if a grenade had been lobbed, the ball bursting off the pitch. Such was his potency against left-handers in particular that he dismissed Lahiru Thirimanne and Kumar Sangakkara eight out of a possible ten times.

The key for India’s bowlers has been short spells and the building of pressure. “It is not easy for fast bowlers to accept it, to understand that they are not looking for wickets in a particular five over spell,” Kohli said. “It is done to build up pressure and they have done it beautifully in this series.”

“At certain times you do get longer spells,” added Ashwin. “But it is about balancing a five-bowler attack. All of us bowled 15-19 overs on day five here (at SSC) and when we needed that final thrust (for victory), we were able to give that.”

This is where the rest of the bowling attack comes into picture. Ashwin and Ishant are the two main pivots, but they could not have been successful enough without sustained pressure from the other end.

Amit Mishra was used shrewdly, almost like a trigger-happy hit man against the tail-enders. Umesh Yadav bowled with discipline, barring perhaps in the second innings of this third Test. He will grow in this role as he plays more.The most impact, surprisingly, was made by Stuart Binny, who brought an element of control in the fifth bowler’s role, something missing in Harbhajan’s one outing at Galle.

“The way they have bowled in partnerships in this series has been something that has stood out for me.” Kohli said. “As a captain, it makes your job easier to make changes, because they strike a balance between creating pressure and controlling runs from one end and taking wickets from the other end. That communication between the bowlers has really helped.”.

This performance sets the perfect template going forward. When the first Test against South Africa gets underway in Mohali two months from now, the watchword for this Indian attack will be consistency.