TimesofIndia.com in Galle: KL Rahul reluctantly stood his ground after the umpire raised his finger. Prabath Jayasuriya was convinced, the close-in fielders were celebrating, but Devdutt Padikkal, at the non-striker's end, pushed his senior teammate to ask for a review. The right-hander pointed towards his back leg, but the moment replays confirmed contact with the front pad, it looked curtains. Then, the seven-letter word, 'missing,' flashed, and Rahul gave Padikkal a warm hug. The review and the moment left mixed tastes and contrasting reactions, but with a similar degree of surprise from both the batter and Sri Lanka players, which aptly summed up the situation as focus moved back to live action. The ongoing Galle Test has had anything but an expected storyline. Who would have thought that 14 wickets would fall on Day 4, with eight of those picked up by the fast bowlers from both sides? Not just that, when India were expected to bat Sri Lanka out of the contest, they failed to do so. The hosts' early collapse made the writing on the wall clearer, but the rearguard rescue act changed the mood. And just when India looked favoured to return to the "bat out of the game" narrative, an ordinary batting performance never allowed the declaration question to get louder as the visitors were bundled out for just 193 in 48.5 overs. The sun was out in its full glory on Day 4, and the clear sky meant we had an extended period of uninterrupted cricket at hand. Brisk runs were the need of the hour, but Yashasvi Jaiswal's dismissal off just the third delivery of the innings set the tone for the remainder. The left-hander chased an early delivery, Rahul perished after an ordinary shot, Shubman Gill continued to bat in a very un-Gill-like fashion, and except for Devdutt Padikkal and Rishabh Pant, no other India batter showed the stomach for a fight. India looked to re-establish control in the Test with quick runs but chose questionable shots in the process. "We had to make sure to put pressure back on them with quick runs to establish control again," said Devdutt Padikkal, centurion of the first innings, at the end of the day's play on Tuesday. The pitch wasn't raging or turning square, and conditions remained ideal for batting. However, the cushion of the lead seemed to allow complacency and carelessness to creep into the second innings. Jaiswal should have done better; Rahul could have opted for a different approach against Prabath Jayasuriya; Gill opted for a shot he doesn't play often, and in no time, India had three of the top four with their feet up in the dressing room.
If not for Padikkal's fluency and Rishabh Pant's fight, India could have been in a precarious situation, as only three batters reached double digits. Pant stood out with his audacious strokeplay, as he has on numerous occasions in the past. The bowlers played with his mind by setting different traps, but the left-hander continued to find a way through, scoring boundaries. He would charge down the ground and play a tennis-like forehand, and the next ball, he would go deep in his crease to play one fine. He used sweeps and reverse-sweeps to full effect, focusing on only one currency: runs. And no matter how they came. Pant isn't for the faint-hearted, and neither is his wagon wheel, but one constant remains: the ability to boss tricky situations, even if it keeps everyone on the edge of their seat. He didn't get any support from the other end but fought a lonely battle before the short-ball trap finally worked for Sri Lanka, who were tactically sharp with their bowling changes and field placements. "Yeah, it's great entertainment. I think he is one of those batters who you love to watch every day of the week. And he produces moments like he did today. He really took the game to them and put them under a lot of pressure. I think that's the ability that he has. He can win games on his own. And when something like that comes off, I think it's always great to watch. And I think everyone is really happy to have a player like him in our side," added Padikkal.
Pant was fearless, but the hosts came prepared with different plans for every batter. They used their seamers Asitha Fernando and Lahiru Kumara very smartly, and the pair returned with a collective six wickets. The last instance of seamers together picking five or more wickets at this venue was back in 2016, when Mitchell Starc took six and Josh Hazlewood took one. "To be honest, we didn't really expect the fast bowlers to pick all those wickets. That did fall today, I think. But at the same time, credit goes to the fast bowlers. They really put a lot of effort in. They bowled some good spells and they have really done a good job. But at the end of the day, I think the goal you expect from the third day onwards for the game to quicken up a little bit, I think it definitely did turn a little bit more. "Especially today, it started turning a little bit more off the stumps. I think initially, it was turning probably from the fourth stump and now it is starting to turn from the stumps as well. For us, as a team, trying to get 10 wickets, that is a really good sign. Hopefully, tomorrow it continues to deteriorate a little bit," explained Padikkal.
Sri Lanka fast bowling coach Ryan van Niekerk lavished praise on the pair of Asitha Fernando and Lahiru Kumara for bringing the hosts back into the game from a challenging position, asserting that being proactive helped them find answers. "There have been ebbs and flows in this Test, but the bowling group has been very proactive. We had plans and credit goes to the bowlers for executing them. Asitha has been doing a great job for us, and Lahiru cracked open the game with that spell where he brought so much energy," said Ryan. "Historically, we know a lot of wickets fall in Galle from Day 4 onwards, so I wasn't surprised by that," he further added. The start to the mammoth 372-run chase wasn't ideal for Sri Lanka as they lost four quick wickets and faced the heat in the final session of the day's play. India were spot on with their tactics, and the ploy of hunting in pairs with spin and pace worked. Mohammed Siraj and Manav Suthar set the ball rolling, and Prasidh Krishna and Ravindra Jadeja sustained the pressure as the first-change pair. While Suthar continued to get a lot of turn, Prasidh bowled with a lot of heat in the fading light to keep the hosts under the pump. Sri Lanka will need a special effort to score 288 runs on the final day, and it's now up to the Indian bowlers to take the remaining six wickets to not only conquer the Galle challenge but also leave a satisfying taste in the mouth when they leave the coastal city. The script, just like the weather, has been anything but predictable, but India wouldn't mind riding the ebbs and flows for one last time. Brief Scores India: 462 & 193 (Rishabh Pant 62, Devdutt Padikkal 44; Asitha Fernando 4/31, Prabath Jayasuriya 3/43, Lahiru Kumara 2/28) Sri Lanka: 284 & 84/4 (Dhananjaya de Silva 31 batting, Sonal Dinusha 25 batting; Manav Suthar 2/30, Mohammed Siraj 1/11)