Cheteshwar Pujara came to India's rescue after Sri lankan seamer Dasun Shanaka's twin strike had left the hosts gasping at 74 for five on a second consecutive rain-curtailed day of the opening cricket Test, here on Friday.
After Suranga lakmal's (3/5) exploits on the first day of the rain-affected series opener, it was Shanaka's turn to steal the limelight today as he removed Ajinkya Rahane (4) and Ravichandran Ashwin (4) to return with impressive figures of 2 for 23.
Pujara was the lone Indian batsmen to produce some fight against the Sri lankan bowling attack on a green top in overcast conditions.
Pujara displayed impeccable defensive technique again and struck only the errant deliveries to score during his unbeaten 47-run knock.
Shanaka took both the wickets in the morning but Pujara anchored India's first innings on testing overcast conditions at the Eden Gardens.
Coming on to bat at the score of eight, Pujara faced 102 deliveries and struck nine fours in his knock, three runs away from what could be a memorable half-century as the India No 3 built his innings with supreme resolve.
He patiently waited for loose balls as the visitors got maximum purchase from the Eden's green top, brilliantly aided by the overcast conditions.
Shanaka struck in his third over when he tempted Rahane for a drive and got a thin edge to the wicketkeeper. Next he evicted Ashwin after setting him up brilliantly as Pujara struggled to get a partnership going.
Overnight 17/3 after lakmal's sensational bowling display, Indians were tested in the off-stump corridor by the lankan pacer's probing length and bounce.
Indians preferred to take lakmal with extreme caution as the lankan new-ball bowler finally ended his overnight spell from the High Court end for 11-9-5-3.
On 24, Pujara was hit on his bottom hand — bowling hand — thumb by a rising short pitched delivery from lahiru Gamage as he flung his gloves in pain in the 25th over.
In the next over, Pujara lost Ashwin as Shanaka set him up with a bouncer and followed it with a good length delivery that was cut straight to point by the Indian off-spinner.
But Pujara remained unperturbed and looked for loose deliveries and scored mainly through boundaries before the first session was halted by rain.
lunch was taken 10 minutes ahead of schedule while it started pouring in the middle.
The heavens continued to pour, which meant no play was possible after lunch forcing the umpires to call off day's proceedings prematurely again.
After just 11.5 overs were bowled on Thursday, the Sri lankan bowlers managed to get through 21 overs on Friday.
‘Kohli won't miss chance to play’
Indian fielding coach R Sridhar on Friday said that skipper Virat Kohli would not miss a chance to play for the country as long as he is fit and would ask for rest only when his body demands.
India are scheduled to tour South Africa for a full series early next year and many feel that Kohli should be rested during the two-month long ongoing home series against Sri lanka, but the captain insisted that he would ask for rest only when needed. "Each member in this team is very proud to represent his country at any given opportunity. Most in the team love to play every match. Knowing Virat, he wears his pride on his sleeve. As long as his body allows he would not miss a single second of the match," Sridhar told a news conference after the second day's against Sri lanka.
Asked why three Test old Hardik Pandya was taken off the squad after the all-rounder sought for rest, Sridhar said: "The parameters we take into consideration is the workload.
"The time he spent at the crease, overs, batting... based on that, the team management takes a call on who needs to be rotated."
The Indian team is considered a supremely confident fielding side and Sridhar gave credit to players' putting in a lot of hardwork.
"We are not doing any magic trick. As far as fielding goes, the formula is very simple, the more you practice the better you get. You can see the results because it's a controllable skill of the game unlike bowling and batting which one cannot control. So we work hard on the things we can control and I may sound like a broken record here but the only way to get better is to practice a lot and that's what this team does," he said. "The fitter the player, the better the result on the field. You are more agile," Sridhar added.
On Suresh Raina, Sridhar said once the batsman is fit, he would be a "part of the whole process".
"He's a fabulous fielder. Once he is through with the fitness parameters, I'm sure he will be very much part of the whole process," he said.