SL VS IND - 1st Test, India tour of Sri Lanka, 2017

The Virat-Ravi Shaz era begins on a bright note. A massive, massive win. India's biggest away from home, in terms of runs. Sigh! Just as Asela Gunaratne needs a surgery, Sri Lanka too need one to announce their arrival in this series. We have a good 4-day break before the second Test starts. At SSC Colombo on Wednesday. See you there. Thanks for joining us. Raju Peethala bids adieu on behalf of the entire team; Ramakrishnan, Pradeep, Sagar Chawla, Abhinand Raghavendran and Sreenivas. And not to forget our MVP Vineet Anantharaman.

Kohli: Last time (2015) we should have won and it was really denting as far as our confidence is concerned. But, this time around it was a very clinical performance. We are a more experienced side now and that's what is showing in the field. Really happy with the way things have gone and the guys stood up when it mattered the most. All bases were covered nicely. Everyone turned up. The surface didn't offer much, that's why the win is special. Bowlers did well on a track that offered nothing and I think that shows how much hard work the boys put in. Persistent pressure for longer periods always pays off and that's something I believe in. Last time it was good for bowling and this time it is good for batting. One regular opener is not fit right now. I think it is a massive headache (smiles), but a good one to have. At most, only 3 openers make the squad. It's good to have guys scoring rather than guys not scoring consistently. I think the guys will understand how the dynamics of the team work. It was a situation where we had to capitalize and not waste deliveries. We are still working on how to pace our innings in the second game. It felt nice that it came off well. I thought Abhinav (Mukund) really batted well. He deserved a 100 as well. To get to another Test 100 is really special.

Herath: It's getting better. There was a fracture on the same finger previously and I got hurt again, but there is no fracture this time. Should get better in a few days. It was a good wicket to bat. We need to improve in all three departments. Toss didn't play a major role in this game. All credit to India, they outplayed us. Losing Asela is a great loss for us. But we want to improve with the batting, bowling and fielding. We need to have some kind of improvement in the future as well.

Shikhar Dhawan, Man of the Match: Really enjoyed batting here. Just watched the ball and kept scoring. Very healthy competition in the side and it keeps me on my toes and always looking forward to improve myself.

Ashwin gets a special award on playing his 50th Test match

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Stats round-up by Deepu Narayanan:

- Biggest away Test wins for India (by runs):
304 v SL, Galle, 2017 *
279 v Eng, Leeds, 1986
278 v SL, PSS, 2015
272 v NZ, Auckland, 1968

- Biggest Test losses for SL (by runs):
304 this Test *
301 v Pak, PSS, 1994
282 v SA, Cape Town, 2017
278 v Ind, PSS, 2015
259 v Ind, Ahmedabad, 2005

- 126 runs scored by Shikhar Dhawan is the lunch-tea session is the second most for any Indian player in any session of a Test after Sehwag's 133 in the tea-close session at the Brabourne against SL in 2009.

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Dhawan, Kohli, Ashwin, Jadeja will walk out as the successful wolf pack warriors from this game. All of them have had a terrific outing and stepped up in crunch situations. There's not much to complain. Presentations imminent...

Dhawan was on 31 when Asela Gunaratne dropped him at slip. While attempting to catch that, Gunaratne not only hurt his thumb, but also hurt his team's chances. He never came back on to the field after that horror, and thus, Sri Lanka found it hard tough to draft the chips back in place. It not only affected the batting balance, but also denied a genuine fifth bowler's service. That's all to talk about Sri Lanka. Dhawan, Kohli, Ashwin and Jadeja will walk out as the successful wolf pack warriors from this game. All of them have had a terrific outing and stepped up in crunch situations. There's not much to complain. Presentations imminent...

16:27 local: Kohli picks up a stump and so do a couple of other players. Happy faces all around. And now the handshake formalities between the players. An emphatic win for India. Outplayed Sri Lanka in all three departments of the game. Dhawan set it up nicely on day 1 with an absolute carnage [190 off 168, 31*4] of a knock and since....India never looked back.

Jadeja to Lahiru Kumara, out Caught by Shami!! That's it. India seal the game, win by 304 runs. Gunaratne and Herath are injured and won't bat, meaning that's that. India were beaten here at Galle in 2015 and what a way to erase those unpleasant memories. Kumara attempts a wild slog - can't blame him for his approach - and was caught at mid-off. Lahiru Kumara c Shami b Jadeja 0(8)

Jadeja to Lahiru Kumara, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Jadeja to Lahiru Kumara, no run, well forward to kill the flights and loops of Jaddu

Jadeja to Lahiru Kumara, no run, pushed wide of silly point now

Jadeja to Lahiru Kumara, no run, drops the ball into the ground and towards silly point

Jadeja to Lahiru Kumara, no run, sent back to where it came from. A solid defence back to the bowler

Ashwin to Dilruwan Perera, no run, flat and wide, seeks to cut does DP. No dice

Ashwin to Dilruwan Perera, no run, tries to sweep, but was undone by the drift of the carrom ball. Down leg

Ashwin to Dilruwan Perera, no run, straight batted defence to silly point