Gill underlines big positives for India from Sri Lanka series

India captain Shubman Gill had words of praise for top-order batter Devdutt Padikkal and left-arm spinner Manav Suthar, hailing the mindset and skill level they displayed during India's 1-0 series success in Sri Lanka. 

The two-time ICC World Test Championship runners-up won the first Test against the hosts in Galle before a determined batting display from Sri Lanka led by Sonal Dinusha saw Sri Lanka survive a follow-on and draw the second and final Test in Colombo.

This was their third-successive series win for India in the country.

While the Indian skipper expressed disappointment at not driving home the advantage in the second Test, he found plenty of positives to take from his team's endeavours in Sri Lanka. 

"I think it's been a great series," Gill told BCCI.tv in an interview after the game.  

"For us, a lot of positives in the series. All the youngsters doing well. So, that's very pleasing to see."

"We speak about once a batter is set, he should make the most of it. And Devdutt (Padikkal) showed that. The way he batted in the series was a treat to watch. (It) truly tells the mindset of a player," he added.

Padikkal was in sublime touch with the bat scoring 328 runs in the two-match series at an average of 109.33 that saw him fire two hundreds in the process. He led the charge for the visitors with the bat as they secured another series victory in Sri Lanka. 

Another one of the leading performers for Manav Suthar who bagged 16 wickets in the series that included a ten-wicket haul in India's win in Galle.

Gill made note of his progress in recent times. 

"He's (Manav Suthar) been magnificent for us and I think he is going to be someone who is going to be leading the spin attack for India for a very long time," Gill said. 

"The way he bowled in this match and even in the first match was a treat to watch. Everytime, he comes onto to bowl, it feels like he's going to create those chances and going to get us wickets and hopefully he keeps doing that," the captain added.

India were in a position of strength in Colombo at the end of day two and also enforced a follow-on on the hosts but Sri Lanka displayed great application and thwarted India's attempts to force a result. 

Gill gave credit to their opponents for their display and felt it was an important lesson for his team.

"A lot of learnings in this series. I think we played decently well," he said. 

"Obviously, not the result that we wanted in this match. After day two, we hoped that it's going to be a win for us and then Sri Lanka batting that the way that they did for these three days, sometimes you've got to learn from the opposition as well and credit to them for the way that they played," he signed off. 

India have work to do to make the final of the ICC World Test Championship and their next Test assignment is in New Zealand in November. With just seven Tests to play in this cycle and a lot of ground to make up, India's margin for error is very little.