India’s WTC final route worsens despite Colombo series win

India’s path to the World Test Championship final became more difficult after the second Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo on Thursday, despite winning the series. India are placed fifth in the WTC points table.

Thursday’s drawn contest at the SSC produced a Sri Lankan fightback that restrained India’s victory margin, and the match’s slow winding down evoked images of 1980s Tests when Sunil Gavaskar or Javed Miandad might bowl in the final overs. A charity match at another venue featuring Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda de Silva added to the nostalgic mood. Sri Lanka’s Sonal Dinusha compiled 420 runs at an average of 140, and his unbeaten 133 in the second innings prevented India from completing a 2-0 sweep. Bangladesh’s heroics at Darwin and the eventual 1-1 verdict in that series further harmed India’s standing.

Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel’s walk to the bowling crease underlined the tame end to the second Test, and the contest was widely described as being all about Sri Lanka’s resurgence. The stalemate at the SSC followed a period in which India’s home vulnerability, including the loss to South Africa, had already affected their WTC cycle.

The absence of Jasprit Bumrah, Sai Sudharsan and Washington Sundar through injury left India short-handed and contributed to visible churn in the squad. Newcomers and returning players provided mixed signals on balance and depth as the side experiment with personnel.

Player-of-the-Series Devdutt Padikkal stepped into the No. 3 role and produced substantial contributions; his centuries at Galle and in the Sri Lankan capital combined solidity with fluidity. As Sri Lankan coach Gary Kirsten mentioned, Padikkal revealed good Test batsmanship. Left-arm spinner Manav Suthar offered promising glimpses: Suthar has an old-world feel, he goads the ball to spin a yarn and leads batters to their doom.

Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel supplied important runs, but concerns emerged over discipline and tensions on the field. No-balls by the spinners, specifically Ravindra Jadeja, and an altercation between Yashasvi Jaiswal and Asitha Fernando were cited as causes for worry. The article noted that the spin-quotient will miss the guile of R. Ashwin for sometime.

The piece concluded that the upcoming two-Test away series in New Zealand and the five games against Australia in the Indian backyard have become must-win options for Gill’s men, and that coach Gautam Gambhir and Shubman Gill must forge a squad capable of prospering both at home and away.