India Vs Sri Lanka : Shikhar Dhawan slams fifty as India start well in Galle Test

Making a comeback into the team after October 2016, Shikhar Dhawan profited from a reprieve to race away to a well-played fifty on Day 1 of the first Test between India and Sri Lanka in Galle.

The chance he offered at the score of 31 was the only blemish in Dhawan’s innings (batting 64 off 78 balls, eight fours) who provided India a rollicking start with the scoreboard reading 115 for one at lunch. The Galle International Stadium has been a good venue for Dhawan, having scored a hundred here in 2015. 

He was particularly harsh on off-spinner Dilruwan Perera, first picking him off the toes and then coming down the track and driving him through the covers.

The left-handed opener was having it easy against the new ball, both against pacers and the spinners. To add to Sri Lanka’s misery, he was given a reprieve when India were 59 for one, in the 14th over. It was the first good ball of the over by the wayward Lahiru Kumara, having conceded two easy fours and being warned for a beamer.