India on top in Galle

Sharing the new ball with Ishant, Varun Aaron struck in the very next over to get opener Kaushal Silva (5) back in the pavilion.

The hosts, who went to lunch struggling at 65-5 after they won the toss and elected to bat, were lifted by a sixth-wicket stand of 79 between skipper Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal.

India will play three Tests against Sri Lanka.

India play hosts Lanka in the first Test of the three-match series in Galle.

Ashwin terminated the innings by bowling Rangana Herath for 23 to finish with six wickets for 46 runs off 13.4 overs.

Since then, skipper Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan played with patience to solidify the Indian Innings. Sri Lanka lost their first wicket on 15 runs after that Indian bowlers gave no chance to any Sri Lankan batsman to settle down.

Kumar Sangakkara batting at number four in his last Test in Galle was up against some hostile bowling from Ishant Sharma as he kept Sangakkara guessing. “Thinking about the five bowlers concept, I would pick R Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Amit Mishra as the second spinner and not Harbhajan Singh as you need a bit of variety”, Agarkar was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

“Fifth-ranked India know that a 3-0 victory can propel them up the rankings table, and depending on the final outcome in the ongoing Ashes series, they could even climb to as high as third place, provided Australia defeats England at The Oval”.

In his next over, Ashwin claimed Dhammika Prasad leg before wicket for no score to complete his 11th five-wicket haul in test cricket.

The last time India toured Sri Lanka, in 2010, the series ended in a 1-1 draw.

Shastri praised the previous Sri Lanka legend Muttiah Muralitharan saying he performed an important position in choosing 20 wickets of the opponents.

Other skilled players like Virat Kohli, Shikar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara have enough experience to tackle the bowlers, as long as they overcome problems relating to their performance away from home.

The left-hander, who debuted as a stumper-batsman, said he did not like being relieved of the keeping duties but it was possibly the best thing to have happened to his test career. A soft dismissal really, as he pushes one off the backfoot that lands straight in KL Rahul’s hand at silly-point.