Sri Lanka's Rangana Herath became the most successful left-arm spinner in Test cricket on Saturday, claiming six for 59 to bowl his team to an emphatic 259-run victory against Bangladesh in the first Test.
Stylish Indian opener Rohit Sharma, who couldn't make it to the Playing XI for the first Test -- he was forced to miss the opening Test due to viral fever -- was seen having an enjoyable time with team-mates while having an intense session of FIFA video games.
Harish Kotian/Rediff.com highlights what Virat Kohli needs to ponder about, after the Galle defeat
India return to place from where journey to glory began.
England's Ben Foakes made a memorable debut to help the tourists recover from a terrible start and reach 321 for eight wickets on the opening day of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle on Tuesday.
Wickets fell at a steady rate thereafter, with Jayasuriya striking three times, claiming the wickets of Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam and Sarfaraz Ahmed to leave Pakistan struggling at 101 for five.
Bad light stopped play on day three with Karunaratne on 27 and Dhananjaya de Silva on 30.
Sri Lanka spinner Rangana Herath continued his love affair with the Galle International Cricket Stadium as he took five for 65 to help dismiss New Zealand for 221 on the opening day of the first Test.
'We are an experienced team now, we played good cricket. All bases were covered and I'm really happy with the way things went in this Test'
India were set a tricky target of 176 runs to win the first Test against Sri Lanka after Dinesh Chandimal produced a counter-attacking unbeaten 162 to lead a spirited fightback for the hosts in Galle.
Rajneesh Gupta presents some interesting numbers from the second day's proceedings.
Ashwin moves into top-10, Dhawan in career-high 32nd spot in the latest ICC Test rankings
Uganda produced wonders in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Africa Region Qualifier last November
India amassed 600 in their first innings and returned to blow away the top half of the Sri Lankan batting order to tighten their grip on the first Test at the Galle International Stadium on Thursday.
Rajneesh Gupta presents the numbers from Day 4 of the first Test.
Jaiswal's knock was a perfect blend of attack and defence.
'He never had a negative thought in his mind, he was supremely confident.' 'He always stuck to his natural game, he never moved away from that.'
Galle has built a reputation as a spinners' paradise but Australia captain Steve Smith hopes there will be substantial reverse swing at the venue as his top-ranked team bid for a series-levelling win against Sri Lanka in the second test. Sri Lanka inflicted a 106-run defeat on the touring side at Pallekele last week in the opening match of the three-test series with the spinners taking 18 out of 20 Australian wickets to fall.
Pakistan are 1-0 up in the two-Test series having won the opening match in Galle by four wickets.
Ahmed Shah Massoud's assassination, 9/11 and the defeat and ejection of the Taliban suggested a break in Afghanistan's history, but the events of August 2021 and the Taliban's return shows how deeper continuities remained in place, points out T C A Raghavan, former Indian high commissioner to Pakistan.
Rajneesh Gupta presents some interesting numbers from Day 1 in the first Test between India and Sri Lanka.
When Stuart Broad dismissed South Africa's Kyle Verreynne with an edge behind to Ben Foakes, he become only the second bowler to take 100 Test wickets at Lord's, joining fellow great and bowling partner James Anderson.
India took a firm grip on the first Test against Sri Lanka by taking a first innings lead of 192 and snaring the hosts' openers in the second innings by the end of Day 2 in Galle on Thursday.
The dates for India's tour to Sri Lanka next month are out.
Writer David Josef Volodzko said he has advised his female friends to not travel to India alone. His X post followed the alleged gang-rape of the Spanish tourist in Jharkhand's Dumka district.
The Asian Cricket Council could accept PCB chairman Najam Sethi's proposed Hybrid Model for conducting four non-India Asia Cup games in Pakistan.
Pakistan consolidated its top spot in the 2023-24 ICC World Test Championship table after a a 2-0 series sweep against Sri Lanka.
Jayasuriya bowls Sri Lanka to innings victory
Pakistan, co-hosts of the Asia Cup, will take on Nepal in the tournament opener in Multan on Wednesday and will be in high spirits after their whitewash of Afghanistan.
The Congress has been in the crosshairs after demeaning remarks on Ranaut and Mandi were posted on the social media handles of its leaders Supriya Shrinate and H S Ahir.
Ollie Pope embodied England's 'Bazball' making a 196 filled with sweeps, reverse sweeps and reverse scoops during the first Test, and India head coach Rahul Dravid admitted they will have to counter the unorthodox approach to make a comeback into the series.
India 'A' coach Rahul Dravid advised Virat Kohli to make Virender Sehwag's unbeaten 201 at Galle (in 2008) as a reference frame for facing the Sri Lankan tweakers.
Babar Azam's side had been in charge after claiming a handy first-innings lead of 149 in the first match of the two-Test series.
Saud Shakeel's career-best 208 not out fetched Pakistan a significant first-innings lead of 149
Dinesh Chandimal smashed his second half-century of the match to put Sri Lanka in the box seat in the opening Test against Pakistan in Galle on Monday.
Shafique and Salman pummel Sri Lanka, Pakistan eye series sweep
'We have got a guy like Hardik Pandya, who is a wicket-taking bowler. Every game that he plays, on any surface, he has a knack of picking wickets. He has a great chance of playing as well'
The hosts, chasing a mammoth 550 for a win, only managed 245 runs before their second innings folded in the final session of the penultimate day after Dimuth Karunaratne had been dismissed for 97.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin spun a web around Sri Lankan batsmen with a six-wicket haul as India dismissed the hosts for a paltry 183 in the first innings to gain the upperhand on the opening day of the first Test in Galle on Wednesday.
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