Pant hits, misses!

Playing his 100th game Virat Kohli was supposed to hog the limelight on the opening day of the first Test against Sri Lanka But it was the young Rishabh Pant who stole his thunder with his scintillating strokeplay at the PCA Stadium here yesterdayHis nearcentury knock has put the home team in a strong position as India ended Day One at a commanding 357 for six Pant thoroughly deserved a century but was castled in the first over with the second new ball when just four short of the mark Nervous 90rsquos for RishabhIt was not for the first time the young southpaw was dismissed in the 90rsquos There have been five occasions when he has fallen in the nervous 90rsquos and once he was unbeaten on 89 during his most memorable knock in Indiarsquos unlikely threewicket win in Brisbane in January 2021 All the Indian batsmen had decent starts with Hanuma Vihari scoring a solid halfcentury when things were getting hot for the Indian batsman Shreyas Iyer after early indications of batting up the order was preferred at No6 and he too was shaping well making 27 confident runs And allrounder Ravindra Jadeja once again showed his utility with 45 hoping to complete a halfcentury todayAt the start of the day the question on every lip was will Kohli celebrate the special occasion with an elusive century The way the master batsman was shaping up looked ominous till he played back to a delivery which he ought to have played on the front foot As he was castled by leftarm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya a loud sigh went up in the stands and Kohli walked dejectedly after scoring 45After India won the toss and decided to bat first there was a small ceremony to felicitate Kohli and all eyes waited patiently for the master batsman to make an appearance Skipper Rohit Sharma a compulsive hooker played a short one from Lahiru Kumara straight into the hands of the fineleg fielder and when Mayank Agarwal was removed by Embuldeniya in strode the former captain Though slight nervous Kohli soon steadied his nerves and became focussed on the job on hand During his 76ball stay he did not look in any particular trouble though he was circumspect against the spinners Just a momentary error in judgement of playing back to a pitchedup delivery and a bit of turn saw his off stump disturbed much to the dismay of a small crowd at the stadium Cautious approachAfter Kohlirsquos departure Pant took to the stage and produced an act that only he can with fearless strokes that left the Sri Lankan bowlers clueless The way Embuldeniya was bowling at that stage things could have gone either way But Pant took his time to get in gear and when he finally did he tore into the bowling and hammered fours and sixes in quick succession to turn things Indiarsquos way And when it seemed he was all set for his fifth Test century he was cleaned by a beautiful delivery by LakmalThe ball is already turning on the Mohali pitch so for India to bat first and post over 350 on the first day with a bit of batting still to come the home teamrsquos plans are working according to the plan How long this Test will last will depend on the response of the Lankan batsmenBrief scoresIndia 3576 R Pant 96 H Vihari 58 R Jadeja 45 V Kohli 45 L Embuldeniya 2107 v SL