India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak was left to rue the loss of Padikkal (117) and Ravindra Jadeja (43) late in the day, but still believes his team is well placed to put together a large total.
“I think all in all, apart from couple of dismissals which you feel we could have avoided, I think we betted really well,” Kotak said.
“And all in all, we can’t complain on day one. Because in the first session, the ball was moving and there was some moisture. Even I felt that the spinners were getting a turn in the first session. So, I think we betted well.”
Dhruv Jurel (7*) and debutant Saransh Jain (4*) are the not out players for India at stumps, while Kotak revealed Rishabah Pant would be fit to bat on the second day after the left-hander was forced to retire hurt early in his innings on Sunday.
Sri Lanka bowling coach Ryan van Niekerk remained optimistic at stumps, believing his side was still well in the contest should they be able to pick up early wickets on the second day.
“We’ve still got a new ball in the morning to use and hopefully a fairly fresh Asitha (Fernando) and Lahiru (Kumara) to start the day,” van Niekerk said.
“So if we can make some early inroads, that would be fantastic for us.”
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