India were at 357/6 at the end of Day 1 of the first Test against Sri Lanka at the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali.
The match is also marked for Virat Kohli’s 100th game in the longest format of the game. Kohli scored 45 while the star of the day for the home team was Rishabh Pant who got 96 runs to his name with a strike-rate close to 100.
However, Virat Kohli reached another milestone on his special Test by completing 8000 runs in the longest format of the game.
Hanuma Vihari who got to play at the No. 3 spot for India after the Rohit Sharma-led management driped Cheteshwar Pujara from the side. Ajinkya Rahane was also dropped from the team and Shreyas Iyer is playing in place of him in the Indian XI.
This is the 14th time India have scored 350+ runs on the opening day of a Test – six of those instances have come against Sri Lanka.
India’s Day 1 scores batting 1st vs SL in last 5 home Tests
385/6 Ahmedabad 2009
417/2 Kanpur 2009
17/3 Kolkata 2017 (11.5 overs)
371/4 Delhi 2017
357/6 Mohali 2022 *
For Sri Lanka there were times when they had an upper hand but they failed capitalise those moments.
“Felt good going out in the middle. I was batting well, and I had a good preparation. Great opportunity batting at number three for India. I am happy to bat wherever the team wants me to, but my most preferred position is number three, I have done it in first class cricket. I thought initially the ball was coming onto the bat well. But once the ball went old, it was difficult to time the ball well,” said Hanuma Vihari at the conclusion of Day 1 of first Test.
Praising Pant, Hanuma said, “Rishabh is a different kind of a batsman and it was a special innings. We all know how he bats, and it was a special innings today. He helped us get to 350+ on the first day, which will be helpful going forward.”
