COLOMBO: Upon winning the toss, Angelo Mathews had no hesitation whatsoever to put India in, rarely as captains in subcontinent do, especially when it’s of series-deciding value. The perceived wisdom is to bat first, put on runs and pressurise the opponents.
But Mathews flouted the convention by choosing to bowl first. And why not, there were parches of grass, more brown than green, scattered all around the strip. Resultantly, the seamers did have some assistance, though not the nauseating sort of movement you confront in England or New Zealand. The wickets of Ajinkya Rahane and KL Rahul owed more to clever use of the seam than devious swing, contributed to no less degree by batsmen’s indiscretion and the overlying moisture brought by the overnight showers.
But unlike what the surface looks, it’s not an unplayable green ‘mamba’, but it’s neither a surface where batsmen back their attacking instincts and stroke through the line. The odd one nibbled and Nuwan Pradeep’s short-of-length ball bounced awkwardly to beat Virat Kohli, which debutant wicket-keeper Kusal Perera had to jump high to cling on. Perera had earlier dropped Kohli on eight, a straightforward catch off his inside edge.
So, India’s batting coach Sanjay Bangar wasn’t perturbed by the nature of the wicket. “It’s a sporting wicket with good grass cover on it. I expect the ball will seam around right throughout the game. It makes for challenging cricket. But the advantage of batting first on such wickets is this a little bit of moisture will slightly dent the pitch, which will benefit us when bowling fourth,” he observed.
The nature of the surface, which was re-laid last year, was subject to much speculation on the eve of the match. But even Mathews didn’t feel that it would overly help the seamers. “The last game we played here was against Pakistan last year. After being re-laid, the wicket has a bit more carry. But you know, it’s an SSC wicket,” the Sri Lankan skipper had said on Thursday.
The greenish tinge to the pitch stunned Team India director Ravi Shastri as well. “I remember commentating a lot here with matches not getting over, first innings not getting over till the fifth day. So please don’t remind me of that,” he said.