India vs Sri Lanka, 1st Test Day 2: 'Rockstar Ravindra' puts India in driver's seat

Ravindra Jadeja paid a fitting tribute to one of his earliest mentors Shane Warne with a majestic 175 not out as India took complete command of the opening Test against Sri Lanka with a mammoth first innings total of 574/8 declared on the second day here. Jadeja or the Indian team management didn't feel that the all-rounder needed to go for a double hundred as hosts declared their innings after quite literally batting Sri Lanka out of the game. In the final session, Ravichandran Ashwin (61 off 82 balls, 2/21), having nicely warmed up with his 12th half-century, removed Lahiru Thirimanne and Dhananjaya De Silva to go past Sir Richard Hadlee's 431 victims.

Jadeja (1/30) later celebrated his hundred once again by trapping Sri Lanka's best player and skipper Dimuth Karunaratne (28) leg before. Jasprit Bumrah (1/20) disposed off Angelo Mathews to leave them tottering at 108 for 4 as a three-day finish looked imminent. Sri Lanka still needs 267 runs to avoid follow-on. Day 2: As it happened | ScorecardJadeja's career-best knock, his second ton in Test cricket, came less than 24 hours after the cricket world tried to come to terms with Warne's tragic end. It was Warne, who first realised Jadeja's untapped batting potential during Rajasthan Royals' 2008 Indian Premier League campaign, where it was his late hitting that earned him the 'Rockstar' moniker from his mentor-captain.

Jadeja, over the years, has been one of the indispensable all-format players for India in Test cricket and more so for his batting abilities that make him a better package than Ashwin in overseas conditions. On the day, he was at his imperious best as India scored 217 runs in two sessions because of his attacking batting.

It did help that Sri Lanka were