Paceman Bhuvneshwar Kumar admitted he and the other members of the Indian seam pack did not make the best possible use of the conditions before the pitch became more batting friendly.
He said, “It is not often that we see such a wicket in India in a Test. We saw the Sri Lankans bowl. We were excited. We tried too hard. We could have been more patient.”
Talking about Rangana Herath’s batting in the tail for Sri Lanka, he said, “Herath batted really well. We could have also got him out early but he played all the shots that he wanted to.”
Asked whether the match was heading for a draw, Bhuvneshwar replied, “It depends on how the management, the captain and coach, are thinking. It depends on how we play in the first session, especially the first hour tomorrow.”
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On adjusting to red ball cricket after playing white ball for so long, Bhuvneshwar noted. “The difference between the white and the red ball is that you have to change your length. With white ball you bowl back of length because you know the batsman wants to hit you. With red ball you have to bowl fuller.”
He was unwilling to comment on the Dilruwan Perera ‘review’ episode but said. “We didn’t pay attention on the incident, we were busy celebrating, giving high-fives, later we saw that on sight screen, but we don’t want say anything on it because nothing was confirmed from the match officials.”
Herath was smiling in the evening after notching up his third Test half-century earlier in the day. He was typically modest about his feat. “Considering the first three days, today was much better to bat. We were able to take a lead because of that. I wanted to play my shots, stay positive.”
Queried about new ICC rules regarding ‘deceptive’ fielding and other aspects of the game, he answered, “We all know the rules. When you play the game you are still learning. That’s how it goes. I am sure in the future everyone will know the rules.”
The Sri Lankan had words of praise for K.L. Rahul’s batting. “He is young but has matured a lot. An opening batsman has lot of responsibility and he has the ability to take that responsibility. He has a bright future.”
On very little bowling by the spinners including himself, R. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja on this pitch, Herath observed, “As a spinner I can’t say this is a great wicket. I like to see some turn. There’s no turn on this wicket.”
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