India's star wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant once again proved prowess with the willow on Day 1 of the first Test against Sri Lanka as the Rohit Sharma-led side posted a competitive 357/6 at the day's close in Mohali on Friday (February 4).
The ravishing Rishabh missed his century by mere 4 runs but was in his elements while taking Lankan bowlers to cleaners in his fiery knock of 96 off 97 which was fuelled with four sixes and nine boundaries. The 5000 odd spectators, who had come to watch Kohli perform on a grand stage, saw one of the most flamboyant batters in recent history make a mockery of an average Sri Lankan attack. He was especially brutal when it came to going after left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya, who was taken for 22 in one over.
The deathly silence after Kohli's shock exit for a well-made 45 was there for barely a second and half. Because at that point entered the stockily built 24-year-old from India's engineering city of Rourkee and that was followed by a deafening roar which showed his popularity.
On Kohli's day, he had completely over-shadowed the legend. And those who came for Kohli, decided to stay back and savour Pant's mayhem as he started with a signature lofted six off Embuldeniya over mid-wicket fence. But coach Rahul Dravid and skipper Rohit Sharma's decision to send him at number five to bring in the left-hander's advantage against a left-arm spinner, had paid the rich dividends they were hoping for.
In a match full of milestone which marked Virat Kohli's 100th Test, India opted to bat first. Openers Mayank Agarwal (33) and Rohit Sharma (29) put in a good start for India but lost their wickets after registering 33 and 29 runs respectively as they stitched together a partnership of half-century. Meanwhile, Hanuma Vihari steadied India's ship with his promising 58 off 128 but was dismissed by Vishwa Fernando later. Virat Kohli narrowly missed out on a fifty after crossing 8000 Test runs in his 100th Test match as he became the sixth Indian to do so.
Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin will resume batting for India on Day 2 and have already registered 45 not out and 10 not out runs respectively. Despite being hit for multiple boundaries by Pant, Lasith Embuldeniya scalped two wickets for the visitors while conceding 107 runs. Meanwhile, Suranga Lakmal, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara and Dhananjaya de Silva took a wicket each for Sri Lanka.
Scoring 350 plus runs in a day's play is always bad news for the bowling team and as of now, it seems India will walk away with 12 World Test Championship points without breaking a lot of sweat.
