India vs Sri Lanka 2017: 5 things India did right to win the 2nd Test

After the humdinger in Kolkata, that stretched till the last session on the fifth day, one would have thought that the Lankans will come up with a fighting response in the second game.

All hopes of a challenge vanished on the opening day itself, and the Indian batting clicked together, taking the game completely away from the visitors, and by the fourth day, India had taken a 1-0 lead.

Here are five reasons why India managed to comprehensively outclass Sri Lanka:

#1 The Murali-Pujara partnership

The Murali Vijay-Cheteshwar Pujara duo was reunited for the first time since March this year, and did not take too long to start from where they had left off. Since the start of the 2016-17 season, the two have been in outstanding form together, averaging over 105 in 11 innings, with over 1100 runs to their name. The two now have three 200+ partnerships in Tests, the second most for an Indian pair.

Vijay, playing his first game since the Dharamsala Test in March, combined with Pujara after the early departure of KL Rahul, and stitched together a massive 209-run partnership that formed the platform for India's first innings.

Resuming the second day on 11-1, Vijay executed his delectable cover drives with elan, showing intent early in the morning and carried it throughout the day, helped along by a few close calls and failed chances from the Lankan fielders.

The Lankans bowlers looked tired as the innings progressed, giving Pujara, a typically slow scorer, more loose deliveries to score off.

#2 Virat Kohli continues to shine

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That he has been in an extended run of brilliant form in limited overs is no news, but Kohli has evolved comprehensively in the longer format as well, and is destined for greatness in whites. His habit of turning his good starts into daddy hundreds has been one of the major reasons for India’s great run in Tests in the last year and a half.

An aspect of Kohli’s batting is that he doesn’t give the opposition even a semblance of a chance to get the better of him, and was at his fluent best in the second game, after having notched up a century in the previous innings at Kolkata.

Combining with Pujara after Vijay departed, Kohli looked sharp against both pacers and spinners, scoring with a strike-rate of close to 80, making full use of the unimpressive bowling by the jaded bowling outfit. His quick century gave the team the impetus to gather runs quickly and notch up a score that eventually proved to be well beyond the Lankans.

#3 The comebacks that mattered

Rohit Sharma scored his first Test century in four years

A well-set Indian team was forced to make a few changes, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shikhar Dhawan leaving the side due to personal reasons, and Mohammad Shami having a slight niggle. Their replacements, Murali Vijay, Ishant Sharma and Rohit Sharma, took to the Test team like fish to water, highlighting how the current Test team’s bench strength was in equally good form as the playing XI.

Vijay, playing his first game after his shoulder injury in March, showed just how important an asset he is to the Test side, and staked claim for a permanent spot for South Africa with some fluent, assured strokes.

Rohit Sharma, playing his 23rd Test in a career spanning four years, carried his rich vein of limited-overs form in the whites. He started off slow, but realised that the surface was easy to bat on, and did not shy from using his feet against spinners, especially Rangana Herath.

Ishant Sharma has been under scrutiny for not getting enough numbers under his wickets column, but made sure that he corrected that by bowling much better lines, delivering close to the body and enticing the batsman into an edge.

#4 Spinners return to form

Ashwin became the quickest to 300 wickets in Tests

After going wicketless in the last game, the spinners bounced back admirably, taking the onus on themselves even in a four-man bowling attack. The highlight of their performance came on the first day, when they bundled Sri Lanka out even with the pitch not offering much

By the end of the game, Ashwin had become the fastest bowler ever to reach 300 Test wickets, and had accounted for eight of the 20 Lankans wickets. The Lankans, unable to show any positive intent to the spinners, were stuck to the crease and kept committed mistakes.

With the South Africa series round the corner, the duo, who have been sidelined from limited-overs, continue to be a source of headache for the selectors.

#5 Sri Lanka's failed promise

Mathews has looked out of touch with the bat

After Suranga Lakmal’s super spell in the opening two days of the game, one felt that the Lankans could pose a genuine threat to India, quite unlike the 3-0 drubbing that they suffered in July-August during their home leg.

Their collapse on the first day exposed their batting frailties once again, and formed the basis of what turned out to be a cakewalk for India towards the end.

Angelo Mathews, a 71-Test veteran, scored 10 in each of the innings, and failed to carry the responsibility required from the accomplished all-rounder

The bowlers continued to hurl deliveries on the shorter side, failing to deliver testing lines that could have given the Indian batsmen trouble while the spinners looked listless.