India vs Sri Lanka, 1st Test: Jadeja's allround heroics help India crush Sri Lanka

Allrounder backs up century with 9 wickets as India dismantle Lanka within three days in the first TestMOHALI: It was supposed to be a milestone Test match for three stalwarts in the Indian team - Virat Kohli played his 100th Test and crossed the 8000-run mark; Rohit Sharma led India in a Test for the first time and on Sunday R Ashwin surpassed Kapil Dev's tally of 434 Test wickets. DAY 3: AS IT HAPPENED | SCORECARDYet, when India wrapped up the first Test against Sri Lanka, winning the match by an innings and 222 runs, the man who imposed himself on the game was Ravindra Jadeja. His match figures of 9/87 and his unbeaten 175 the previous day were the driving force behind India completing the rout in three days. When he cleaned up Lahiru Kumara in Lanka's first innings to complete a five-wicket haul on the third morning, he became the third Indian to score 150 runs and take five wickets in a Test match after Vinoo Mankad and Polly Umrigar. That he is the first Indian to do so in nearly 60 years is further evidence of his calibre as an outstanding allrounder. Jadeja ensured there was no respite for a Sri Lankan team which can at best be described as ordinary.

The problems in Sri Lankan cricket were cruelly exposed as they got bowled out twice for 174 and 178 inside four sessions. On a pitch that didn't offer raging turn or seam movement, India's pacers and spinners gave no breathing space to the batters. Pathum Nissanka's unbeaten 61 in the first innings and Niroshan Dickwella's unbeaten 51 in the second innings were aberrations in a batting line-up that was susceptible all through. For the Indian camp, which has been flaunting its reserves for over a year, it was a Test to initiate transition. Jadeja may have been the