(Cricket news) India won the first Test against within 3 days by an innings and 222 runs. The match was a special one even before it started as it was Virat Kohli's 100th Test match and also Rohit Sharma's first as a captain. India elected to bat first and declared after reaching 574/8 thanks to a quickfire 96 from Rishabh Pant and an unbeaten 175 from Ravindra Jadeja. Hanuma Vihari, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin played cameos as they got 58, 45 and 91 respectively.
In reply, Sri Lanka couldn't get going as they were bowled out for 174. Jadeja was once again the main man this time with the ball as he picked up a fifer. Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah picked up two scalps each while Mohammed Shami got one wicket. India enforced a follow on at day 3 and bowled out Sri Lanka for 178 on the very same day. Ashwin and Jadeja picked up four wickets each, Shami on the other hand inflicted two dismissals. Jadeja fell 1 wicket short of becoming only the 4th cricketer to score a century and pick up 10 wickets in the same match. He did become the 6th player to hit 150 runs and pick up 5 wickets in the same Test match.
Jadeja's growth as a proper all-rounder across formats has been incredible. He is now undroppable from the side and is certainly one of the most important players in this Indian team. Ashwin on the other hand reached another milestone as he reached 436 Test wickets, going past Sir Richard Hadlee, Rangana Herath and the legendary Kapil Dev. He is now the 9th highest wicket taker in Test cricket and the 2nd highest Indian behind Anil Kumble. India's spin twins, who have played and won so many games for India together, all had special games and so did Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. India now have 5 days to prepare for the 2nd and final Test at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
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