Much of the credit for India’s success in the second Test at the P Sara Oval would understandably be placed on R. Ashwin, who took seven wickets in all, including five in the second innings. K.L. Rahul, who hit a first-innings century and kept wickets with a fair amount of success, and Ajinkya Rahane, who scored a crucial ton in the second dig, also had their parts to play in the victory.
Two other things that happened in the Test would have undoubtedly gladdened a few hearts in the Indian think-tank. In the final session on the first day, Stuart Binny, freshly summoned from India, walked in at No.6 and put on 36 runs with Rohit Sharma. Then, Wriddhiman Saha, coming in at No. 7, had a 52-run association with Rohit. Saha would go on to add another 46 runs with Amit Mishra the following morning.
In fact, the 74 first-innings runs and the 63 in the second innings that the final four wickets yielded played a crucial part in India’s win.
Even in the first Test, Saha had notched up a valuable half-century batting at No. 6. True, a couple of successes do not constitute a trend, but the circumstances under which they came make them important.
With the current set-up favouring a five-bowler composition and just five specialist batsmen, the presence of an all-rounder and a batsman wicket-keeper is crucial, to either beef up the innings like Saha did in the second innings to set Sri Lanka a target beyond 400, or to bat with the tail, like he did in the first.
Also, India has had a troubled past trying to find suitable players for these roles. Since Sourav Ganguly’s retirement in late 2008, the No. 6 slot has been a game of musical chairs of sorts, and M.S. Dhoni’s travails with the bat overseas didn’t help matters.
V.V.S. Laxman’s 2,760 runs at 50.18 is the best for an Indian batsman in that position, and after he was pushed up the order in the wake of Ganguly’s retirement, the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rohit and S. Badrinath have all been tried there with only sporadic success. Among the current crop, Raina, with 701 runs, has the most runs at No. 6.
“Everywhere around the world you look they have a spinning all-rounder and a fast bowler all-rounder,” said Kohli, perhaps referring to the likes of England’s Ben Stokes. “So Stuart is the best in that particular category of seaming all-rounder. We need to give him more chances and more confidence so we can use him at any stage to provide balance to the team.”
Ahead of the series, team director Ravi Shastri had said: “Saha is a very, very good player. He has the temperament to score runs; he batted really well in Sydney to save that Test match. It’s all about converting that start into one big score and giving himself the self-belief that he can perform.”
In the third Test which starts on Friday at the Sinhalese Sports Club, India, in Saha’s absence, will have another wicket-keeper batsman looking to make a name. Naman Ojha, along with middle-order bat Karun Nair, joined the squad and went through the practise drills on Wednesday.
While there were tough batting and bowling drills after the defeat in Galle, much of the time here was spent playing a round of football.
Ojha and Binny, though, were seen batting in the nets as a pair, the new routine devised by Kohli. The hope is for one such combination to keep succeeding.
