India had a rough start with the bat in the practice game against Sri Lanka XI at the Nondescripts Cricket Ground in Colombo. Young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal struggled to make any sort of impact, scoring a two-ball duck ahead of the two-match Test series, starting August 15. Left-arm pacer Vishwa Fernando removed the India opener with the second ball of the innings.ย
Jaiswal offered a simple catch at gully after attempting to play a delivery outside the off-stump channel without moving his feet. It has been a constant issue for the Mumbai cricketer, who has faced difficulty in dealing with left-arm pacers in recent times. He has often relied on cut shots, which eventually played a huge role in his dismissals.ย
Since making his Test debut, Jaiswal has scored nearly 400 runs through the cut shot, the most by any batter in the format during that period. However, he has also been dismissed seven times while attempting the stroke. Left-arm pacers have accounted for nine of Jaiswalโs Test dismissals. Three of those came during his last four innings in the World Test Championship against South Africa at home last year.
Jaiswal was also dismissed by Marco Jansen in each of those three innings as India lost the two-Test series 0-2. Jansen is among three left-arm pacers to have dismissed Jaiswal three times in Test cricket.
KL Rahul makes 40, Padikkal solves number three problem
India began their reply on day two after Sri Lanka Cricket XI declared at 363 for eight on their overnight score. Jaiswal opened with KL Rahul and the duo was expected to give the visitors a good start after Sri Lanka batters enjoyed their time on the opening day. After Jaiswal departed, Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal managed to keep the scoreboard ticking, but the prior once again failed to make his start count.ย
Padikkal, on the other hand, went on to score a half-century. Since returning to the Test side, the Karnataka cricketer has proved his mettle and by the looks of it, India might finally have a solution for number three, since Cheteshwar Pujara retired.ย
In the meantime, Ravindra Jadeja has been promoted to number four as captain Shubman Gill sits out with a hand injury.ย
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