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STUMP VISION SEPTEMBER 04, 2026 | The Indian Eye 47

India’s Test Championship campaign

gets a reality check after Sri Lanka draw

India secured a 1-0 series victory in Sri Lanka, but the second Test draw exposed the fine
margins that could prove decisive in the World Test Championship race.

OUR BUREAU
Colombo (Sri Lanka)

ndia may have walked away from Colombo
with a series victory, but the drawn second Test
Iagainst Sri Lanka offered a reminder that domi-
nance does not always translate into the five-day re-
sult a team needs. For a side beginning a fresh phase
under Shubman Gill, the failure to complete a 2-0
sweep could carry significance as the World Test
Championship (WTC) campaign develops.
India had positioned itself perfectly to win the
Test after declaring at 503/9 and then dismissing Sri
Lanka for 290. A first-innings advantage of 213 runs
gave Gill the option of enforcing the follow-on, and
India did exactly that. Yet what appeared to be a
straightforward route to victory turned into one of
the most remarkable rearguard efforts in Sri Lank-
an Test history.
Sri Lanka reached 429/9 after batting for 154
overs, with Sonal Dinusha producing an unbeaten
133. India could take only nine wickets, despite hav-
ing Sri Lanka under enormous pressure at the start
of the second innings.
For the WTC, the immediate consequence is
simple: India collected fewer points than it would India’s Ravindra Jadeja celebrates the wicket of Sri Lanka’s Prabath Jayasuriya on day 5 of the 2nd test match against Sri
have with a victory. A Test win is worth 12 points in Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, in Colombo on Thursday (ANI Photo)
the championship, while a draw earns four points
for each team. That makes the difference between put Sri Lanka back under pressure and finish the named Player of the Series after scoring 328 runs at
winning and drawing particularly important over match without allowing the hosts to recover. But an average of 109.33, including two centuries. Jurel
the course of a long championship cycle. once the surface offered virtually nothing to the also demonstrated his ability to make a substan-
The result therefore leaves India with the sat- bowlers, India’s inability to secure the final wicket tial contribution, while Suthar emerged as a major
isfaction of a series victory but also with the knowl- became a lesson in Test-match management. bowling positive.
edge that opportunities to collect maximum points Gill himself insisted that India had done ev- The performances of the younger players are
cannot be taken for granted. erything possible. “We did everything we can,” particularly relevant to India’s WTC ambitions. A
The circumstances, however, matter. India did the captain said, while praising Sri Lanka’s bat- long championship cycle requires depth, and India’s
not surrender control of the match through poor ting effort. His assessment reflects an important ability to develop reliable alternatives in both bat-
batting or a collapse. Its batsmen established a com- point: not every dropped WTC point represents ting and bowling will be crucial as the team moves
manding position, while the bowlers had Sri Lanka a failure of execution. Sometimes the opposition into more demanding assignments.
290 all out in the first innings. Devdutt Padikkal’s simply produces an exceptional performance. The series also showed the value of having mul-
117 and Dhruv Jurel’s unbeaten 115 underlined For India, however, the larger WTC picture de- tiple bowling options. Suthar and Ravindra Jadeja
the strength of India’s emerging batting core, while mands consistency rather than isolated dominance. took three wickets each in the second innings, while
Manav Suthar finished the series as India’s leading A championship campaign is accumulated over a Prasidh Krishna and India’s pace resources provid-
wicket-taker with 16 wickets. series of results. Wins provide the strongest return, ed pressure at different stages. Yet the final break-
The problem was the pitch and, ultimately, time. while draws can become costly when they occur through remained elusive.
The SSC surface became increasingly favour- in matches in which a team has established over- That is perhaps the clearest lesson from Colom-
able for batting, leaving India’s bowlers with little whelming control. India’s second Test in Colombo bo. The draw should therefore not be treated as a
assistance. Sri Lanka’s lower order also displayed belongs to that category. The visitors were never crisis. Nor should the 1-0 series victory disguise the
extraordinary determination. Pasindu Sooriyaban- beaten, but they were unable to convert a position opportunity India missed.
dara’s 92 and Kamindu Mendis’ 55 helped erase of near-total dominance into the maximum reward. Sri Lanka showed that even after being forced
the deficit before Dinusha took control of the re- That distinction could become increasingly im- to follow on, a Test match can be rescued through
sistance. portant against stronger opponents and in difficult patience, skill and resilience. India, meanwhile,
India’s decision to enforce the follow-on will in- overseas conditions. has learned that WTC cricket is ultimately about
evitably attract scrutiny. With a 213-run lead, Gill’s At the same time, India can take consider- maximising points whenever the opportunity pres-
call was understandable: an opportunity existed to able encouragement from the series. Padikkal was ents itself.

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