Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin applauded 25-year-old Sonal Dinusha after the second Test against Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka put up a spirited effort to draw the game in Colombo, led by Dinusha’s heroics with the bat as well. R Ashwin, however, compared him to that one question in a question paper that would be out of syllabus. He added that the draw was as good as a win for Sri Lanka as well.
“India should have won this Test against Sri Lanka. Sonal Dinusha was like that question in the question paper that was out of syllabus. Everyone was like who is this stranger but what a player! Just a phenomenal performance. This is like a victory for Sri Lanka. They dragged the game to five days. They just need two good spinners, and they will be a force to reckon with,” he said in a video on his YouTube channel.
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“I saw four innings of Sonal Dinusha. Challenging pitches. He did not put even one foot wrong. Padikkal plays a lot on the backfoot but he got bowled by going back. This guy did not get stuck by the lengths on even one ball. That boy is incredibly fit. He picks the lengths really well. He was using the feet against Jadeja, playing the sweep and slog sweep. Looks like a player to watch out for in the future,” he again added.
However, there has been a lot of debate over India’s decision to enforce the follow-on after the Test ended in a draw as well. While R Ashwin felt that it was debatable and okay, he stated that giving the bowlers some rest in these conditions could have made a difference as well.
“The only thing for the follow-on was the weather. Gill said they wanted to go for it because of the weather. I understand. But there was a lot of time. It does not work like that. Are the bowlers machines? That is the difference rest can make. You can’t bowl 25 overs so easily, especially as a spinner. How will a spinner back himself up? The debate is fine, though. It’s okay. Because of the rain, they wanted to get a result,” R Ashwin concluded.
