“It’s not easy” – Karunaratne loses another battle with Ashwin
Dimuth Karunaratne had battled on to make 97 in the second innings in Sri Lanka’s 304-run loss to India in the first Test in Galle last week, but R Ashwin shut off all escape routes for the opener on day two of the second Test on Friday (August 4).
The Indian off-spinner produced a memorable spell during which he got past the outside edge of Karunaratne’s bat on at least a half-dozen occasions before eventually procuring the nick that nestled in Ajinkya Rahane’s hands at slip.
“You have to play one ball at a time, it’s not easy,” said Karunaratne of his one-sided battle with Ashwin. “He’s a good spinner, he has variations. When I was batting, I was playing for the straighter one. It’s turning a lot. You can play for both the turn and straighter one. I was trying to play more balls from him, because if I batted a long time, he would try to do something else and we can capitalise on the loose balls. That’s my target when I am batting against Ashwin.”
Explaining the rationale behind playing for the straighter one, he went on, “I had a plan for Ashwin. Last time (in 2015), I got out to him twice. Both times, I got out to his straighter ball. My plan was to play for the straighter one. If it turns, you can’t help. The Galle pitch was a bit easy to bat on, but we had to work hard on that pitch and wait for the loose one. I have the temperament to bat longer. Unfortunately I waited about 60 balls for the last seven runs, so when he came over the wicket I thought he would be easier to sweep, so that’s why I went for it. Unfortunately it didn’t happen.”
Karunaratne, who inside-edged the attempted sweep on to his sticks in that Galle innings, was asked how he picked the Ashwin straighter one. “After he delivers, I can see the ball coming in – it’s drifting. I was playing for the drifting one, I think that’s the straighter one.”
The left-hand opening batsman conceded that the SSC pitch wasn’t a batsman’s ally. “You see more turn and bounce (now) than we were seeing on the first day. Because of the ball’s hardness, you get turn and bounce. Maybe after the hardness is gone, it will be easy to bat later on. We just wanted to play out the rest of the overs with normal batting, be positive,” he said of Sri Lanka’s approach in the 20 overs to stumps, during which time they slipped to 50 for 2 in reply to India’s 622 for 9 declared. “We knew definitely Ashwin was going to bowl with the new ball because we saw that after lunch, there was some turn and bounce for Rangana (Herath) and Malinda (Pushpakumara). We thought we needed to bat positive and we were looking for runs.”
The long pause on being asked whether he thought Sri Lanka could save this Test was a giveaway of sorts, but Karunaratne recovered enough to say, “We all want to save the Test match. In the first 10-15 overs, with the ball’s hardness, it is not easy to bat. After the hardness is gone, the help is not there for the spinners. Chandi (Dinesh Chandimal) and Kusal (Mendis) batted really well in the last few overs. We have to play positively. I think that will be key.”
While there has been a lot of talk about how spin holds the key over the next three days, Karunaratne admitted that reverse-swing would be a factor as well. “Definitely. When I bowled after the day’s play (at nets), we used the same kind of balls (in terms of wear and tear). I just bowled a few overs. It’s reversing. Definitely (Mohammed) Shami and (Umesh) Yadav can get some reverse-swing as well.”
India won a closely-contested series 2-1 in Sri Lanka in August 2015, with a young side that has since gained tremendously in experience. Sri Lanka, in the meanwhile, has gone in the opposite direction, and Karunaratne used the example of the domestic cricket structure in the two countries to explain the differences in fortunes of the two teams.
“That time, we had Sanga (Kumar Sangakkara) also, this time we have no Sanga,” he said. “But we have a bunch of young guys who can dominate the game if we play fearless cricket. They (India) have played a lot of good cricket. They’ve played a lot of IPL and first-class cricket. In Sri Lanka, we only have eight-ten domestic first-class matches and five one-dayers. That’s it for the season. I think that’s the main reason. We have to play more first-class cricket and then we can find more players who can dominate the game. That’s the thinking – what SLC have to work on for the players.”
Earlier in the day, Karunaratne had picked up his maiden Test wicket, trapping Cheteshwar Pujara in front for 133. “I started my career as a bowler, not as a batsman, so I can bowl,” he said. “There are a lot of bowlers who can bowl faster than 130-135. We played only with once pace option (Nuwan Pradeep), so when they asked me if we need to bowl a few overs with the new ball, I said I could. That’s why I bowled a few overs with Chaminda Vaas to see how it goes.
“As I started batting more, I bowled less and less. But when we go to England, New Zealand or South Africa, I bowl at practice, because I’m told I might get an opportunity to bowl (in matches too). Those conditions are helpful for seamers. I didn’t get to bowl in the matches. But I was practicing. I thought maybe I’d be able to bowl in Sri Lanka. Vaas aiyya said I might have to share the new ball with Nuwan. I had prepared for that in practice.
“If he was able to, he would definitely have bowled,” added Karunaratne of Angelo Mathews, the former skipper who isn’t bowling-ready yet. “But he’s still recovering from injury and the physio has told him he can’t bowl. Maybe I will have to bowl a few (more) new-ball overs.”