Rishabh Pant stole the show with a scintillating 96 on the first day of Virat Kohli’s 100th Test against Sri Lanka on the first day of the first Test against Sri Lanka at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali on Friday.
Electing to bat after winning the toss, India reached 357 for 6 at stumps on the first day, with spin all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin remaining unbeaten at the crease. Sri Lanka were not able to meet their full quota of 90 overs but India potentially knocked them out of the competition with an impressive performance on the opening day of the historic Test.
That is the stumps on the first day of the first Test.#teamindia 357/6 after 85 overs. Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja put together 104 runs on the board.
Pant 96
Jadeja 45*scorecard – https://t.co/c2vTOXAx1p #INDvSL @paytm pic.twitter.com/pXSRnSXBsh
—BCCI (@BCCI) 4 March 2022
A solid and quick 104-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Jadeja Pant was mere spectators. The Indian wicketkeeper attacked with the first ball before Suranga Lakmal dismissed him on the second new ball and was dismissed for 96 runs off just 97 balls.
Pant hit 4 sixes and 9 fours as he attacked the Sri Lankan spinners after completing his fifty in 73 balls. Pant hit Lasith Embuldeniya for 22 in an over as he delighted the Mohali crowd, who stood on their feet and returned to the pavilion applauding the fiery wicketkeeper, out in the 90s for the 5th time in his career. Heartbroken after that. ,
Hanuma Vihari No. 3
India were in a strong position as Kohli added 90 runs for the third wicket with new No. 3 Hanuma Vihari to take them to 170/2. But Sri Lanka retaliated when Kohli was dismissed by left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya as the ball hit his bat and hit his stumps.
Hanuma Vihari made good use of his opportunity in place of Cheteshwar Pujara and looked in control before hitting Fernando’s delivery at the stumps during his 58-run knock.
‘King’ Kohli came out to bat to great enthusiasm from the crowd in Mohali and applauded the right-handed batsman, who scored 8,000 runs in Tests during his innings. Kohli looked solid during his time in the middle, hitting five boundaries during his 45-run knock. The former India captain also scored 8000 Test runs in his 76-ball 45, which also included four more hits.
Earlier, Rohit Sharma had dropped the first wicket for India when he was dismissed for 29 in his first innings as Test captain. Rohit hit six boundaries in his 28-ball knock and added 52 runs for the opening stand with Mayank Agarwal before finding a deep fine leg fielder with a hook shot off pacer Lahiru Kumara.
Notably, Virat Kohli was also honored by the BCCI with current India coach Rahul Dravid in the presence of his wife Anushka Sharma before the start of the game with a commemorative cap and a memento.