India's slip catching woes and other talking points as late Ashwin strikes peg Sri Lanka back

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  • Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal registered tons.

    Sri Lanka fought back valiantly on the third day of the final Test against India at Delhi but a late charge by India’s bowlers set the islanders back.

    Sri Lanka skipper Dinesh Chandimal remained unbeaten on 147 before bad light brought play to a slightly premature halt with the visitors 356-9 in reply to India’s first innings total of 536 runs.

    Here, we look at the key talking points of the third day at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium.

    SENIOR DUO ANGELO MATHEWS AND DINESH CHANDIMAL MAKE MARK

    Amidst all the recent failures of the islanders, the need for the senior players to step up had been spoken about constantly within the team and management. With the rapid injunction of fresh faces in the past year or so, experienced players have perhaps not done enough to help smoothen the transition from the retirements of Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardane and Muttiah Muralitharan.

    On Monday, Angelo Mathews and skipper Dinesh Chandimal stood up in the face of tremendous pressure to register their eighth and tenth Test tons respectively. Both had to play extremely patient innings as India’s bowlers constantly troubled them but they dug in to put together a 181-run stand to put the visitors in a position of relative safety.

    Skipper Dinesh Chandimal brought up his 10th Test ton.

    Skipper Dinesh Chandimal brought up his 10th Test ton.

    INDIA’S SLIP CATCHING WOES LET THEM DOWN

    While Mathews and Chandimal will take the plaudits for the day for their valiant centuries, they were certainly given a massive helping hand along the way in the form of some shambolic slip fielding by the hosts.

    Mathews, who crossed the three-figure mark for the first time in over two years, was given three lifelines before getting to the landmark. He was dropped at second slip twice with India skipper Virat Kohli and Murali Vijay being guilty of putting down sitters. There was no improvement on day three when Rohit Sharma failed to grab a straightforward chance from Mathews in the second slip.

    What was perhaps more baffling was the reluctance to use perhaps India’s most accomplished slip fielder in his favoured position as he was placed instead at gully. India’s pacers did well to make to create chances on a flat surface but they were let down by the catching in worrying signs for India before the tour of South Africa.

    Skipper Virat Kohli was himself guilty of dropping a a sitter at slip.

    Skipper Virat Kohli was himself guilty of dropping a a sitter at slip.

    RAVICHANDRAN ASHWIN NOTORIOUSLY UNDERUTILISED

    India’s leading spinner and 300-wicket man Ashwin was bafflingly underused by Kohli on both day and day three until the second session. The off-spinner was given only five overs in the first session of day three despite creating a leg-before wicket chance. Ashwin was not allowed to settle down into a rhythm as he deprived of a chance to bowl more than five overs on the trot.

    That he provided the vital breakthrough just before tea after the marathon stand between Sri Lanka’s veteran makes the decision to under-bowl him initially even more surprising. Perhaps Kohli’s eyes were already on South Africa as he looked to give his pacers more of the ball but surely Ashwin could have been given a far greater role in Delhi.

    It was Ashwin's late strikes which dented Sri Lanka's charge.

    It was Ashwin’s late strikes which dented Sri Lanka’s charge.

    DELHI PITCH SHARES LITTLE COMPARISONS WITH SOUTH AFRICA

    Before the start of the series, Kohli had spoken about using the Sri Lanka series to prepare for the South African tour in the absence of enough warm-up games. The talk had been about using green tops in the three Tests to help mirror conditions in South Africa.

    Sure enough the pitch at Kolkata for the first Test was a fast bowler’s delight but the subsequent pitches at Nagpur and now Delhi have been more or the less what one can usually expect from a subcontinent track.

    Big scores and four tons have already come from the first three days as batsmen continue to dominate on a pitch not assisting the pacers in a way India would have liked. With the South Africa series starting almost immediately after the limited-overs series against the islander, surely there is a danger of India being massively under-cooked for the tough tour.

    Batsmen have prospered on a flat deck at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium.

    Batsmen have prospered on a flat deck at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium.

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