Take Me To Ipl Jaiswal Dickwella Sledge Bait Dismissal Ind Vs Sl Galle
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Indian ExpressVerified Publisher
“Come on yaar, there was a lot of shots in first innings. We need to see something, come on.” Niroshan Dickwella had barely reached the crease when Yashasvi Jaiswal began. “I want to see. Come on, show me. Hit him there (pointing towards deep square leg), come on. Why not?” The Sri Lanka wicketkeeper-batsman, walking in with his team needing every bit of resistance it could muster on the fifth morning of the Galle Test, was not particularly interested in taking the bait. “No requirement. Take me (to) IPL, then
“Come on yaar, there was a lot of shots in first innings. We need to see something, come on.”
Niroshan Dickwella had barely reached the crease when Yashasvi Jaiswal began.
“I want to see. Come on, show me. Hit him there (pointing towards deep square leg), come on. Why not?”
The Sri Lanka wicketkeeper-batsman, walking in with his team needing every bit of resistance it could muster on the fifth morning of the Galle Test, was not particularly interested in taking the bait.
“No requirement. Take me (to) IPL, then I’ll hit.”
“We will, we will. 100%. Come on, hit him a six, I’ll take you to the IPL.”
It was an exchange that began as a bit of on-field banter but ended up carrying an almost immediate sting for Sri Lanka. In the same over when the exchange happened, Dickwella fell while trying to go after Prasidh Krishna, attempting to take on a barrage of short deliveries and edging one back to the wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.
Ten runs. Gone.India had found another crack in Sri Lanka’s resistance, and Jaiswal’s little bit of provocation suddenly looked like it had played its part in a crucial wicket.
The moment came late in the morning session on the fifth day, when Sri Lanka were desperately trying to stretch the first Test in Galle into an unlikely fight. India had begun the final day as overwhelming favourites. But the Sri Lankan batters had made them work.
Dhananjaya de Silva and Sonal Dinusha had scored half-centuries, frustrating India’s spinners and taking the game deeper into the final day than the visitors would have wanted. For much of the morning, India struggled to find the breakthrough that would open up the lower order.
Dhananjaya was caught at short fine leg, ending a stubborn resistance and bringing Dickwella to the middle. Sri Lanka needed him to absorb the pressure, frustrate the bowlers and find a way to keep the innings moving.
Instead, Jaiswal immediately went to work.
From around the close-in field, the India opener kept talking to Dickwella, urging him to attack towards the leg side. There was a playful edge to the exchange, but also enough needle to draw a response from the Sri Lankan.
Krishna, operating with the older ball, began peppering Dickwella with short deliveries in the following over. The Sri Lankan tried to take the attack to him, but the attempt ended with an edge back to the wicketkeeper.
The wicket was significant because Sri Lanka’s lower order was now exposed. What had looked like a potentially prolonged resistance suddenly began to look a matter of time for India. With Dickwella dismissed, the tail was within sight.
India had entered the fifth morning needing six wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the two-Test series. The hosts had done much to delay the inevitable. But as Dickwella walked back after edging Krishna, Jaiswal’s promise to “take” him to the IPL was left hanging in the air – an amusing piece of banter that had been followed almost immediately by a wicket.
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