Five positives Sri Lanka can take from the Test series against India

#3. Pushapakumara: arrives late but is effective

Malinda Pushpakumara had a tough time in the first Test, but did well in the second

It took 99 first-class games for Malinda Pushpakumara to earn a Test call-up and his first Test was anything but memorable. He was belted for 156 runs and in 220 balls he picked up only two wickets.

But he arrived at Pallekele with more calmness and stability. The real Pushapakumara minus the nerves and butterflies in stomach bowled in Pallekele and tied Indian batsmen with his accuracy and tidy lines.

On the first day, he dismissed the set openers and also picked the price wicket of Ajinkya Rahane. In 23 overs he gave away 82 runs (out of which 26 were hammered by Pandya in one over) at an economy rate below the overall innings economy rate.

The question of Herath's heir is troubling Sri Lanka from the last couple of years and hence the arrival of Pushpakumara is a soothing development.

He is 30-years-old but he surely has a lot of cricket left in him and can work as a temporary arrangement until some young spinner succeeds Rangana Herath.