On a pitch where lateral movement got lesser and lesser as the day went on with the sun baking it down and sucking the moisture out of it, Indian opening combo of Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul made merry by feasting on some friendly Sri Lankan bowling piling on a massive 166 runs for the first wicket.
Indian batsmen who were guilty of not properly assessing the conditions in the first innings and failing to adapt their game to extremely seamer-friendly conditions did not repeat the mistake twice as the opening duo marmalized the Sri Lankan bowlers to all parts of the Eden Gardens.
This also marked the roaring comeback of Indian team into the match where they were behind the eight ball right from the first ball of the game when Kl Rahul was dismissed by an outstanding delivery from Lakmal. Shikhar Dhawan”s brisk 94 and another half-century by elegant KL Rahul was enough to ensure that India now cannot lose this game unless something dramatic occurs.
Twitter was all praise for the openers as the test match slowly but surely is heading towards a draw thanks to the time lost on first two days due to excessive rains. Here are all the Twitter reactions on the gigantic opening stand:
An Indian opener from Delhi never fail to entertain you in test cricket…
— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) November 19, 2017
India conceded a sizeable first innings lead but this is Eden Garden, such things don't bother them here. #IndvSL
— cricBC (@cricBC) November 19, 2017
Shikhar Dhawan may hav missed his century but just managed to kick M.Vijay out for another test match.#INDvSL
— Kuptaan 🇮🇳 (@Kuptaan) November 19, 2017
Powerful response by India's battng after first innings debacle. All is well!
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) November 19, 2017
Fantastic comeback by India, game in the balance. Beautiful batting today. #INDvSL
— Front Foot Cricket (@FrontFootCric) November 19, 2017
India have dominated a couple of sessions today after being behind the game upto that point. Sri Lanka's bowling has looked thin as the track as eased
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) November 19, 2017
This is for the first time in Test cricket that a side has put on 100-run opening partnership in its second innings after losing a wicket off the first ball of the match!#INDvSL
— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) November 19, 2017
https://twitter.com/cricketingview/status/932192866738298881
Shikhar Dhawan & KL Rahul Gave An Opening Partnership Of 166/0 After My Criticism. BIG Win For Me. Credit Goes To Me Instead Of Them. 😂🙏🇮🇳 #PidiLogic#GST #INDvSL #INDvsSL #ShikharDhawan #KLRahul https://t.co/ejDIAygyAB
— Sir Jadeja fan (@SirJadeja) November 19, 2017
https://twitter.com/RadioCricket/status/932197186506559488