India vs Sri Lanka 2017, 3rd Test: Hits and misses

Roshen Silva and Niroshan Dickwella's unbeaten 94-run partnership proved to be a vital cog as Sri Lanka's resistance earned them an honourable draw in the final Test at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi.

With half the Sri Lankan side dismissed and more than half of the day still left to play, Virat Kohli's men were right on top but could not make it 2-0 as the visitors played superbly on the final day.

Although Dinesh Chandimal's side were defeated 1-0 in the Test series, they lost just two wickets in 87 overs on Wednesday, which is an incredible feat for an under-fire batting unit.

Sri Lanka didn't succumb to pressure and played their hearts out to salvage a draw from the jaws of defeat.

As for India, they will have to go back to the drawing board and figure out whether their current bowlers can take 20 wickets in South African conditions.

India and Sri Lanka will now play a three-match ODI series, starting December 10 in Dharamshala.

Now, before the action moves to limited overs, let's have a look at the hits and misses from the third and final Test.

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Miss: Dimuth Karunaratne

The opening batsman is required to play an anchor's role to provide stability and a solid platform for a huge score. Sri Lanka's opener Dimuth Karunaratne, however, failed to deliver in both the innings at the Feroz Shah Kotla by contributing with just 13 runs in the match.

Karunaratne's top score in the three-match Test series has been 51 that came in the second Test at Nagpur and his form has been a matter of concern for the touring party.

Despite no help from the top-order, Angelo Matthews (111) and skipper Dinesh Chandimal (164) held the fort for the visitors as Sri Lanka managed to post 373 in response to India's first innings total of 536/7d.

Hit: Dinesh Chandimal

Skipper Dinesh Chandimal stitched a combative 181-run partnership with Angelo Mathews and prevented his team from the agony of a follow-on in the Delhi Test. He was dropped from the limited-overs squad for the India series but scored a fighting 164 in the first innings to keep Sri Lanka alive in the Test series.

Chandimal, who bettered his previous highest score of 162* against India in 2015 at Galle, also became the fastest Sri Lankan to score 10 Test tons. He took 80 innings to achieve the feat as he left behind Thilan Samaraweera, who took 84 outings.

Moreover, he also became the first Sri Lankan skipper to register an innings of 150-plus in a Test innings in India. With his score of 36 in the second innings, Chandimal also completed 1000 Test runs in 2017.

Miss: Ajinkya Rahane

With scores of 4, 0, 2, 1, 10 in the ongoing series against Sri Lanka, Ajinkya Rahane has proved to be a chink in India's, otherwise firing from all quarters, armour ahead of the high-octane three-match Test showdown in South Africa.

The 29-year-old, who looked a completely different player when India travelled to Sri Lanka earlier this year, is struggling with his shot selection in the current series and is averaging just 3.40 at a strike rate of 20.73.

However, if we overlook his current lean patch and concentrate on his superiors overseas record, Rahane might prove to be an invaluable asset for India's next assignment which begins from January 5 in Cape Town.

Rahane averages 34.45 in the longest format of the game at home, while his average shoots up to 53.44 on foreign soil. His away record boasts of six centuries and nine half-centuries as compared to three tons and three fifties at home.

Hit: Roshen Silva

Debutant Roshen Silva, who was dismissed on zero in the first outing, calmed his nerves and turned out to be a hero for Sri Lanka in the second innings.

After Dhananjaya de Silva retired hurt on 119, Roshen took over to build a match-saving 94-run partnership with Niroshan Dickwella to keep the visitors alive in the third and final match of the series.

Both the middle-order batsmen frustrated Indian bowlers but did not succumb to the pressure and took their team out of the troubled waters.

The 29-year-old Roshen, with 103 first-class matches behind him, struggled to get his first run but played a near flawless inning from thereon to remain unbeaten on 74.

Roshen also became the fourth Sri Lankan to make a fifty in the second innings after getting a duck on debut.

Hit: Virat Kohli

For a man with an insatiable hunger to score runs, starting off a Test series with a duck can be a major setback but Virat Kohli bounced back and how.

Kohli, who brought up his 50th international ton in Kolkata, hit consecutive double tons against Sri Lanka and became the first captain to accumulate six scores of 200-plus, leaving behind Brian Lara, who has five.

Continuing his blistering run of form, the 29-year-old scored 243 in the first outing at the Feroz Shah Kotla as the hosts declared their innings on 536/7.

With 293 runs in Delhi (243 + 50) Kohli set a record for most runs by an Indian captain in a Test match.

Kohli also brought up his 5000 Test runs and became the second captain to amass 600 runs in a three-match Test series after Graham Gooch's tally of 752 runs against India in 1990.

For scoring 610 runs in the three-match series, Kohli was declared Man of the Match and Man of the Series.