363. That number tells the story of a wobbly Indian bowling effort and the resilience of Sri Lanka's younger generation. The hosts posted 363 for eight on the first day of their three-day warm-up match against Sri Lanka Cricket XI on Friday, but not without heartburn. The Indian attack began the day in disarray, only to find some form at the end of the day as spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Manav Suthar stemmed the tide.
First Session: The Indian bowlers in trouble
The first session was brutal for India. Sri Lanka's Gen-Next batters were on fire from the outset. The pitch at the Nondescripts Cricket Club offered little help for the bowlers, and the Indian pacers looked rusty. Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, and Saransh Jain struggled with control and length. Siraj went for 44 in 13 overs, Krishna for 32 in 8, and Jain, the off-spinner, ended his first spell with 54 in 11 overs — a disastrous start.
By the time the spinners were brought into the attack, the scoreboard was already climbing. Gurnoor Brar was the only pacer with a hint of menace, picking up a wicket for 49 in 12 overs. Sri Lanka's opener, Nishan Madushka, took full advantage. The right-hander, who recently played Tests in the West Indies, made 66 from 65 balls and looked completely at home against India's senior bowlers.
Middle session: Spinners get into the act
As the middle session rolled on, the spinners were asked to take on the majority of the workload. But it wasn’t until Kuldeep Yadav found his rhythm that the Indian attack seemed to click. Kuldeep had gone for 29 in his first five overs, but once he started mixing the pace and varying the flight, he began to trouble the Sri Lankan middle order.
A turning point came when Kuldeep bowled a delivery that jumped at the moment Ahan Wickramasinghe tried to sweep. The ball looped up, and Gurn9r Brar caught the top edge at short-fine leg. A few overs later, he followed with an arm-ball that skidded and hit the pads of Anjala Bandara. Meanwhile, Manav Suthar impressed with a tight line and a smarter reading of the situation. He deceived Rasantha with a well-disguised flight and later dismissed the dangerous Dinusha with a full, angled delivery.
End session: India's recovery is real
By the end of the day, the tide had turned. Kuldeep took two wickets, Suthar one, and even Ravindra Jadeja, despite being out of sync, managed to pick up two. Jadeja looked rusty at first, not going for the stumps, but when he did, he got the rewards. But for now, the scoreboard reads 363 for eight, and India’s head coach, Gautam Gambhir, will have questions to answer about the spinners’ selection.
Sri Lanka’s Sonal Dinusha, the left-handed 52 not out, and Ramesh Mendis (32) added 64 for the seventh wicket with a flurry of slog sweeps and smart placement. Dinusha, fresh off a 92 against the West Indies, hit a regal straight six that left the Indian spinners scratching their heads. That was the highlight of a day that saw both sides test their players for the Tests to come.
Sonal Dinusha won the toss and batted, and his openers made the decision look obvious. Nishan Madushka went after the new ball for 66 off 65, eleven fours in there, before Manav Suthar’s throw found KL Rahul and ran him out with the opening stand worth 110 in the 21st over. Ravindu Rasantha took the other route. He faced 143 balls for 71, which on a surface offering the bowlers very little was the innings that made the total safe. By the time Suthar had him caught by a substitute fielder in the 50th over, Sri Lanka Cricket XI were 201 for 3 and India had been in the field for the better part of two sessions without looking like running through anyone.
The middle order kept the rate up rather than the wickets falling. Pavan Rathnayake made 39 off 47, Pasindu Sooriyabandara 35, Ahan Wickramasinghe 31, and Dinusha himself batted at six for 52 off 72 before Suthar trapped him lbw. Ramesh Mendis added 32 from number eight. Nobody made a hundred and nobody needed to. Suthar was the pick, Kuldeep went for four an over. The one bowler who came out of the day with figures worth reading was Manav Suthar. Thirteen overs, one maiden, 33 runs, two wickets, and an economy rate of 2.53 that no other India bowler came close to. The 24-year-old left-armer took 6 for 33 on debut against Afghanistan on 8 June, the second-best figures by an India bowler in a first Test after Narendra Hirwani’s 8 for 61 in 1988, and has spent the weeks since with Warwickshire in the County Championship. On the evidence of Friday he has not lost anything in the interim. Ravindra Jadeja bowled 15 overs and finished with 2 for 64. Kuldeep Yadav sent down 18 without a maiden and went for 76, though he did take the two wickets that broke the middle order.
Auqib Nabi did not bowl. The name missing from the bowling card is the one that arrived last. Auqib Nabi was called into the squad after Jasprit Bumrah’s left knee ruled him out, having taken 60 wickets in the Ranji season that ended with Jammu and Kashmir winning their first title. He is in the party of 15 for this match. He did not send down an over on day one. Sides carrying 15 players in a three-day game rotate the workload, so this is not on its own a signal about the Galle XI. There are two days left and India bat next. But if the plan is to give Nabi a look before the Tests, the window for it is now fairly narrow.
Rahul led the side because Shubman Gill took an impact injury to his right ring finger in practice on Thursday and was withdrawn from day one as a precaution. The BCCI said its medical team was monitoring him and ruled nothing out beyond that single day. India bat on Saturday, which is the part of this fixture that actually matters. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal and Rishabh Pant all need time against spin on a Sri Lankan surface before Galle, where the ball turns from early and the questions are about patience rather than technique. Ninety overs in the field on day one leaves them two days to get it.