India vs Sri Lanka, 2nd Test Day 2: IND in command as SL end Day 2 at 8/2

[On day one finishing even] Yeah, I think so. It was a hard day, and it kind of went in different phases. We started well and there didn't have much going on in the afternoon, but came back really well. I think our seamers have bowled fantastically, but yeah, we need to make things happen in the first session today and then go back big. [On plotting against India] Listen, I think the game unfolds in different ways often. It depends if we get wickets early or not. I think the wicket's pretty docile at the moment, and our hope is that it stays like that while we're batting, but I think it's going to start taking some turn later on in the Test match. But the game ebbs and flows. We've got to make sure we get a decent partnership on the board with the bat in hand, get wickets early today, and then make some progress through the Test match. But it's going to be, my sense is going to be quite a hard-fought Test match, probably come down to the third and fourth innings where the wicket might be a bit more receptive to turn, and then we'll see what happens then. [On his approach to empowering players and how it translates to the young Sri Lankan side] I'm not sure what that means, empower players. I think I'm a leader, and I'm still trying to get the best out of the players. That's my priority. But got to do it in a way that they respond, that's the most important thing for me. So we're kind of working the progress. I'm a bit more comfortable with the shape of the team now. [On the Sri Lankan pace attack] I think both Asitha and Lahiru have really shown this Test match that they are world-class Test bowlers and can be up there to do a great job for the team. They're pretty much at full capacity now, which is great to see. But we need, every Test match you need 20 wickets, and you need to get them fairly quickly. So still work to do, and again, we've got three young batters in our top six as well. It's a great opportunity for them to go out and showcase what they can do at international level.

(on getting the debut cap) I had mixed emotions. When I received the cap, I was happy and excited, resulting in mixed feelings. When I started playing cricket, of course, every player’s dream is to represent India. Mine was the same - I wanted to play for India. And even if I hadn’t received the cap yesterday, I definitely believed that I would represent India in the next one or two years. (on his preference for red-ball cricket) I feel that red-ball cricket requires a little more skill, you could say, and it requires more time. So I believe that if you become very good at red-ball cricket and develop your skills there, white-ball cricket will also become easier for you.

Rishabh Pant has never done things the conventional way. On Monday in Colombo, with his left forearm still strapped after retiring hurt for 3 the previous evening, he did it again. He walked back immediately after lunch, but the damage was done. His 63 may not have been a hundred, but for India, it was worth its weight in gold.

Pant walked out to bat early in the first session on Day 2 after Saransh Jain had fallen cheaply. There were doubts over whether he could play his normal game, whether he could withstand Sri Lanka’s attempts to test the injury. The answers came emphatically. More than the runs, there was an audacity to the way Pant batted, as if the strapped forearm were an inconvenience rather than a reason to retreat. (Read more from Shankar Narayan)

Well, there seems to be a little lack of clarity in the proceedings about what is going to happen. Dhruv Jurel in the middle is showing no urgency whatsoever, and he is reluctant to give him the strike, but he has also not changed gears; he is continuing to bat the way he has been batting and only taking twos and boundaries.

Mohammed Siraj has walked into the middle, and it will be interesting to see what Dhruv Jurel's approach will be. He is not a bad batter; Siraj, he has improved quite a bit, but with the odd-ball turning as much as it is doing, Jurel might want to be a little more aggressive and get as many runs as he can.

Dhruv Jurel is playing a fabulous knock here. While all eyes were on Rishabh Pant in that partnership, Jurel continued to chip away. One thing he is doing very well in his innings is managing to get that single away whenever he can. Finding that single is pretty important, as it keeps the bowlers from having to constantly keep changing plans.

Ashita Fernando has been brought in from the other end yet again. It seems like he will bowl short balls here. It worked out brilliantly in the second innings at Galle when the ball was bouncing a bit differently. And seems like that is going to be the tactic. It might not be a bad ploy to bring in Lahiru Kumara for a few overs.

Well, that first delivery of the session defines Rishabh Pant. He wanted to surprise the batter, charged down the track, and tried to play a lofted shot through the long-off region; however, the fielder there was a little in, and Pant managed to get too close to the ball and, as a result, could not get a lot of elevation, and the ball carried straight to that fielder.

It has been India's session. Although Sri Lanka has managed to pick up the wickets of Saransh Jain, Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel, the way they have batted has been quite magnificent. The more worrying sign, though, for the Sri Lankans is that the ball is already turning and gripping, and this will give India a massive advantage whenever they come to bowl. Do stay with us; we will be right back after the Lunch break.

While Sri Lankan spinners are quite crafty, they have not been able to get the Indian batters to come to the front foot too often. Both Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel have played the deliveries pretty comfortably, staying on the back foot. They have been able to work the deliveries away. Keshara, on some occasions, has managed to create that dilemma in the footwork through his dip, but Jayasuriya has been too predictable.

The ball has already started to turn, although not from the straight lines, but it is. The consensus has been that it turns a little later in the game, and today will be a better day to bat than yesterday, but so far the evidence has not shown that, for both Keshara Nuwantha and Prabath Jayasuriya, the ball has been turning.

We have reached the water break here, and it has been India's hour thus far. Rishabh Pant has breezed into his 30s here on the back of a good cameo in the second innings in Galle. Well, Pant only plays one way, but if he steadies his innings a bit, there will not be too many pitches and situations that will be as conducive for him to score a good century.

It has been a top-notch spell from Ashita Fernando here again today. He did bowl a lot of overs yesterday, but again he has managed to bustle at the crease and give it his all with this new ball. Also credit to Dhananjaya de Silva, who managed to use him pretty efficiently throughout this Test match.

Both Dhruv Jurel and Rishabh Pant are pretty attacking players, and they will take their chances in the middle. Rishabh Pant has shown no signs of slowing down here in the middle. He was aggressive yesterday, and he continues to keep attacking here again today. This is a very crucial point in this game.

There is a steady breeze blowing across the ground, which will help the seamers get the natural swing as well. So these are good conditions for the Sri Lankan bowlers to try and push for a few wickets here. Once the ball gets older, it will get easier for the Indian batters, and given the game situation, India might push the scoring rate.

The pitch, it's still a batting day, I would think. India in a very good position. And when I look at this, there's not much that I can report about. But of course, wear and tear will kick in. Now what's different in this pitch from the Galle pitch? Initially, comparing the first day's play, there's more bounce here on offer than in Galle. Now that's considerable, even if you say four centimeters. Now we look at where the bowlers bowled yesterday. They have used very different lengths. The effective length has been the good length. If you look at the point the fast bowlers have bowled, all four wickets are there, but it's been effective because they've used the shorter one and the extra bounce. So that means this pitch is quickening up, and hence when the wear and tear comes in, it will be tougher to bat. So Sri Lanka need to somehow get the wickets early. If not, they will not get a lease of a good pitch on offer to score runs.

“Not at all. We are not struggling that much. Rankings do not matter. I think we are going through a transition, and I am sure that people sitting in the press box and in the commentary box know that we are going through a transition. And despite that, yes, there will be blips; there will be ups and downs,” Gambhir told reporters on Saturday.

“I think he batted really well at number three. But I feel even Sai Sudharsan batted really well at number three. He got out on 90 and 85 or something like that. But Devdutt obviously converted into hundreds. Both are young batters, and they batted well. So they can open; they can also go at three also. The way Devdutt bats, in the past he can bat at five also. So it's not — it's more promising for us, the way he approached the game and he delivered when the team needed him to play and score runs.”

“When we left, he had a sore throat and then a viral. I think he has recovered reasonably well. He looked good when I met him in the evening, and so obviously he wasn't available for the match. So then it comes to whether we go with three fast bowlers or three spinners. And with them having four left-handers in the top order, it probably makes sense to play an off-spinner,” he added.

Hello and welcome to our live blog for Day 2 of the Test match between India and Sri Lanka. It was a fascinating day of Test cricket; although India are slightly ahead, Sri Lanka are not too far behind. If the hosts manage to get India under 370-380, they would believe they have a chance in this game. It is going to be another absorbing day of Test cricket; do stay with us.

Ashita Fernando has picked up the wicket of Ravindra Jadeja. He left the ball on the line, but it did come back in, and Jadeja lost his off stump. It was a poor judgment call from him, but he was severely suffering from cramps. Usually is a very fit player Jadeja one of the fittest going around in the world.

It is very interesting that Sri Lanka has turned to Prabath Jayasuriya instead of keeping Keshara Nuwantha going, who bowled very well in that previous spell. Jayasuriya did pick up wickets in Galle, but it took a long time to get that first wicket before he got 2-3. Ravindra Jadeja, on the other hand, from the Indian perspective, is suffering from cramps; it seems to be the same issue which KL Rahul has had in the last game. These are quite sapping conditions here in Sri Lanka, and given how many overs Jadeja bowled in Galle and having to come to bat again, it seems like it is taking a bit of a toll on his body.

It was a very good delivery from Keshara Nuwantha. This is more like it from him; he gave the ball revs, and it pitched and turned away. Padikkal was beaten by the dip of the delivery. This is the strength of Nuwantha: his skill to give the revolutions and try to extract as much dip and drift as is on offer. Padikkal, though, was seen beaten all ends up well to get a batsman like him who was batting like a dream; something magical was needed, and Keshara has managed to deliver it. The new ball is a couple of overs away, and it is going to be an extremely interesting passage coming up for India.

The bowling has been quite ordinary from the Sri Lankan spinners. They just could not find the right length to keep the batters under control through they day they have been either too full or now for the last 15 minutes, too often dragging it too short. Padikkal, who did slow down a bit since Jadeja came in, got a few easy boundaries or so in this passage. It has been a very mixed kind of day for the hosts. There have been times they looked good and times when they have looked not so good. And the result of it is that although they had a few critical moments they could have made the most of, they let it slip.

For Sri Lanka, it has been a day for the seamers. It is not often in conditions like this that teams would be expected to use as much pace as Sri Lanka has used here, and they did quite a fabulous job. The spinners did not have a lot of say in this innings so far. We are seeing a bit of turn for the spinners now, slowly, but it is still day one, and the batters are being able to deal with it quite comfortably. The problem for them will start to arise when the ball starts turning from the straight, which is still a few sessions away. But for now, it has been all pace that has done the job for Sri Lanka.

It has been a testing spell from Lahiru Kumara. This is what having bowlers like him does. It is a pitch which is not doing much, and he has managed to run and bowl quickly, spell after spell. As a skipper, that is what De Silva wants; he wants his bowler to put in the effort and try to make that difference. It will be interesting to see if it is the final over of this burst for him or if he returns for another over. Usually, through the day, Dhananjaya de Silva has only used him in three-over bursts. Sri Lanka would be wondering if they could have had a quality all-rounder like Angelo Mathews or Thisara Perera for a surface like this.

Rishabh Pant is retired hurt here. Lahiru Kumara's delivery was short, and Pant tried to get inside the line and play a scoop shot, but it hit him on the forearms, and he looked like he was in a bit of pain; eventually, he decided to walk back. He can come back again to bat, but for now it is Ravindra Jadeja who has walked into the middle. Jadeja batted at seven in the previous game for a long time; he has been batting at six, but the number was changed in Galle, and here today again he has been promoted back to the position. It is something which India has done by rotating the batting order regularly.

It is Nuwantha and Ashita Fernando who have started the session for Sri Lanka. It has been a pretty weird day for Keshara. He bowled pretty well in the first innings, but today he seemed a little reluctant to do the things he did in the first Test, like drifting the ball and giving it a lot more revs Altough because this is a closed ground there might be not much drift for him but still there is not a lot of revs he is giving to the ball rather trying to put it there and stick to lines and lenghts control the run rate which is pretty negative from the youngster's perspective.

Well, just when it seemed like India were in control of this game, Ashita Fernando has picked up the wicket of Shubman Gill. It was a wide and short ball which Gill poked at, and the keeper completed the catch. Another wicket where the batter will be utterly disappointed with the way he got out. Sri Lanka, who did a few unusual things like throwing down the ball on the leg-side to contain runs, eventually managed to get the breakthrough of a big partnership with Fernando. Rishabh Pant will come back in the evening session; do stay with us; we will be right back after the break.

The umpires have been quite brutal against Prabath Jayasuriya in that previous over, and anything which is down the leg side, the umpire gave it a wide and three were attempted, and all three were given wide. It is important that the umpire draws the line and does not let the bowlers do it more. As we update, Shubman Gill has gone to his half-century, not for that passage where both the spinners were firing it down the leg-side; it has been a pretty fluent innings. The batter of his calibre, and in the form he has been in he would want to convert this into a century here.

This is very poor from Sri Lanka. In the morning session, they did show some sort of fight, but it seems like they have completely given up on picking wickets and are hoping for the batters to make mistakes. Well, this is pretty disappointing to see from the hosts to throw in the towel. Keshara especially is ramming down the ball on the leg-side. He is someone who looked quite magnificent in the first Test, getting a lot of drift and bowling superb lines and lengths, but here, with the line he is operating at, it is quite disheartening from his perspective too.

It has been India's hour; both Padikkal and Gill have played very well in this session. They have looked a lot more comfortable and a lot more confident with the shots they have played. Sri Lankan bowlers have tried, but there is not a lot the pitch is offering them to work with, and whenever the Indian batters decided that they needed to play a shot just put the pressure back a bit on the bowlers; they did so successfully. What Sri Lanka can try to do is dry out the runs and hope there is a lapse in concentration from the batters and the wicket falls.

Sri Lanka has brought in the bowling changes here again. Lahiru Kumara and Prabath Jayasuriya are now operating in tandem. While shorter bursts are a good tactic for the seamers to stay fresh in this heat, spinners usually prefer longer spells. Especially someone like Jayasuriya, who is a red-ball specialist, would want to take that time to set up the batters instead of a 5-6-over spell in which he will be trying to force things, make errors and throw away boundary balls to the batters. It's not happening for them; both the Indian batters are now looking imperious with their batting.

The wicket is not doing much now; the onus is on the Sri Lankan side to find that right balance between attack and defence. It is also coming to that stage of the ball where the seam flattens, and it does not offer much for the bowlers. It is an important innings for Shubman Gill here today; usually, in the kind of form he has been in since he became captain, he hardly misses out on good batting conditions, but he did in Galle twice. Today he has gotten a start here yet again. These are very good conditions again to bat on, and he needs to make the most of it.

It is the two spinners who start the session here for Sri Lanka, which is a bit strange given how well the seamers had bowled in that morning session. Given that they have had 40 minutes break, it might have been a wiser option to start with Ashita Fernando, who has bowled quite superbly in the morning session. Shubman Gill and Devdutt Padikkal would not mind it at this stage of the game, when they are just after the break and their feet might still be a little ginger, and seamers who are getting a bit of help could have caused them trouble, but not to be.

We expect a run fest. You know, that is the trait of this pitch. It provides a lot of runs for team batting first, and so also maybe team batting second. Now, when I look at the surface for this Test match this morning, you can see it's the same approach from the curator, same curator in Galle, and he's got the same approach here as well. He's covered the entire surface with grass. The only difference is there is a little bit of greenery on this grass. It's not a green top, but a little more sort of live grass as opposed to in the last Test where it was completely dried grass. So I again see the same approach where they're trying to keep the soil together with a lot of grass on top, grass to hold it. So let's not talk about this as a pitch meant for seamers because there is grass. But because there is a little bit of live grass, as I said, teams winning the toss will bat first. There's no doubt about it. But the bowlers who bowl with the new ball might just get a little bit of help in the first half an hour, one hour, the cliched line that we always use. The interesting thing about this pitch is that teams batting first have won 16 times. Teams who have lost the toss, I guess, and batted second have also won 16 times. So this is one of those pitches. Very rarely you get this kind of a surface where winning the toss is not crucial.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi stay in the middle for East Zone in the quarterfinals of the Duleep Trophy lasted all of six deliveries against North East Zone. When North East Zone won the toss and elected to bat first, it appeared a bold call as East Zone with its strong batting line-up had the potential to bat out the opposition.

After Abhimanyu Easwaran faced the first over, striking a boundary, all eyes were on Sooryavanshi at the other end. The 15-year-old started with a couple of dot deliveries before finding back-to-back boundaries. The first one, was a clip through the mid-wicket and the next one was a punishing cut that raced to the boundary. And after playing out another dot ball, he went for another slash of the seamer Bishworjit Konthoujam only to be caught sharply by the fielder at gully for 8. (Read more)

We are approaching Tea break, although it might look like a shared session, but one would err a little towards Sri Lanka just because of the chances they have been able to create in this session. India too has not been able to bat with as much freedom as they did in the first Test, which is a testament to how well Sri Lanka has managed to come back today.

Sri Lankan seamers have been very good this morning. Lahiru Kumara did not start well until he picked up that wicket of KL Rahul, which was not a good delivery either, but once that opening came early, both Kumara and Ashita Fernando have been quite top-notch. Sri Lanka would have wished they could have picked a third seamer for these conditions. India too, instead of Saransh Jain, could have gone in with Gurnoor Brar, who can extract quite a bit from the surface, but both teams seem like believe that this pitch will get slower and slower as the game goes on.

Padikkal has dropped here twice early on in his innings; both are pretty tough chances, but with a bit more luck could have been taken. One thing Padikkal has to be a little wary of is that, in conditions like this, is get a little more forward with his stride he tends to play the deliveries too much in the backfoot it does have its fair share of advantages in certain conditions but in certain pitches where there is a bit more bounce like this one it might create a bit of trouble with the outside edges when the ball starts seam bit like it is doing now and there is a Starc difference in the way Padikkal is approaching this innings here.

It was a bit of a nothing shot from KL Rahul in the end. He was playing some exquisite cricketing shots, and he tried to cut a short and wide delivery, which the batter cut or rather, threw his bat at it and the edge went to the keeper. Lahiru Kumara was ecstatic with that wicket, and KL Rahul would be devastated with that one. Well, Rahul did need to get a bit of movement, but that shot did seem uncharacteristic from him, and the conditions were conducive to batting, and it was a good opportunity for him to score those big runs. Devdutt Padikkal is the new batter who has walked in.

While Yashasvi Jaiswal has got a good start here, KL Rahul continues to play in his usual way. Well, there have been instances in the past when the likes of Murali Vijay or Cheteshwar Pujara were forced to change their method by trying to be too aggressive, which has not worked very well, although KL Rahul, very much like Vijay, has refrained from playing any attacking shots. It has more to do with the mindset. He has all the shots in the world in his game, but it seems to be more of a mental adjustment he has made. In the second innings at Galle, when India needed some quick runs, hitting was not that fluent.

KL Rahul in that first innings did seem like he was getting into his shell a little too much. He would be wanting to play with a little better tempo as defending the ball again and again it did seem like it was taking a lot out of Rahul and in the end he cramped a bit contrarily he would have played a few more shots too much strain on hands would have not been needed. Apart from that, his innings was superb. From a Sri Lankan perspective, Keshara Nuwantha did trouble Rahul in the first innings, and we might see Sri Lanka bring him in sooner rather than later.

It is a beautiful day here in SSC, and it is going to be another where the Indian batters can feast upon the Sri Lankan bowlers. India has made an interesting change by bringing in Saransh Jain into the mix, which might be a good match against the Sri Lankan left-handers who did get a bit stuck in the first innings.

Batting first, yes. [On the pitch] It looks like a much harder, much better surface compared to Galle. Galle was also a very good wicket, but I think as the game went on, it got a little bit slower and the ball started to turn. We're expecting the same, but I think for the first two or three days, I think it'll be a really good wicket to bat on. [Playing XI] Kuldeep, unfortunately, had some infections, so he misses out, and Saransh makes his debut for India. [How he would rate the Galle win] I would say probably a nine, because there's always room for improvement, and I think we played a pretty good match, a decent match. And obviously there were some areas where we could have got a little bit better, but, you know, this is Test cricket. It's very, very difficult to be able to have a near-perfect game because you're playing for five days, and to play that dominant and consistent cricket, especially in Test, is hard. But I think overall we had a pretty good match.

Lahiru Udara, Kamil Mishara, Pasindu Sooriyabandara, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva(c), Sonal Dinusha, Niroshan Dickwella(w), Keshara Nuwantha, Prabath Jayasuriya, Lahiru Kumara, Asitha Fernando

"In the first Test the difference was the wickets you could take with the new ball. We lost four wickets in the first innings, but we were only able to get two of their wickets with the new ball. That was the big difference. A Test match can change in that period. We’re talking about how to change that and we’re training towards that goal. We would like to get more wickets in that period."

Kamil Mishara, Lahiru Udara, Pasindu Sooriyabandara, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Sonal Dinusha, Niroshan Dickwella, Keshara Nuwantha, Prabath Jayasuriya, Lahiru Kumara, Asitha Fernando

Hello and welcome to our live blog of India taking on Sri Lanka in the second Test match in Colombo. It was a pretty easy win for India in the first game, and Sri Lanka will want to challenge a little more in this contest. With World Test Championship points at a premium for India, there is no margin for slip-ups. It is going to be yet another cracking game of cricket; do stay with us for all the live updates.