India complete Lankan series-whitewash with massive 238-run win in second Test
Bengaluru, Mar 14: India extinguished whatever little spark Sri Lanka showed and wrapped up the second Test inside three days for a comprehensive 238-run win, completing a 2-0 whitewash of the Islanders, here on Monday.
Two wins against Sri Lanka fetched India 24 points but Rohit Sharma's men remain in fifth position in World Championship table due to 'low percentage points' (54.16). They have 77 points in their kitty.
A herculean task at hand, Sri Lanka took the field on the third day with a lot of determination but it was always going to be tough to negotiate the Indian attack on a track that has been offering turn and uneven bounce from day one.
Resuming at 28 for one in pursuit of an improbable 447-run target, the Sri Lankan batters, led by skipper Dimuth Karunaratne (107), resisted the Indian attack for some time before folding for 208 in the post-tea session.
Left-handed Karunaratne, one of the most consistent performers for Sri Lanka in recent times, raised his 14th Test century with a boundary off Jasprit Bumrah. He took some time to settle but worked the ball around swiftly, consistently placing them in the gaps.
Bumrah (3/23) eventually sent him back with slightly seaming ball that beat his bat to shatter the stumps. The lethal Indian fast bowler, who consistently made life tough for the Lankans, returned with match figures of 8 for 47, having taken a fifer at home for the first time in the first innings.
Ravichandran Ashwin (4/55), Axar Patel (2/37) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/48) did their bit in wrapping up the Lankan innings.
India now have won all three pink-ball Tests at home, having beaten beating Bangladesh (in Kolkata, 2019) and England (in Ahmedabad, 2021) before.
Visitors' early positive intent, something which has not been witnessed much in this series, resulted in a rare productive batting session for the Lankans who collected 123 runs for loss of three wickets.
Adopting a positive yet cautious approach, both Kusal Mendis (54 off 60 balls) and Karunaratne used their feet with confidence to counter the Indian spinners.
Mendis was impressive on both front and back foot as he pulled and cut the short-pitched stuff and used his feet to cut down the spin.
Karunaratne too charged down the wicket, following a similar plan but Mendis was more expressive.
Mendis completed his fifty with a single off Jadeja but was beaten by flight on an Ashwin delivery and was stumped by Rishabh Pant.
That brought about the end of their fighting 96-run stand for the second wicket.
From there on, it was a downward slide for the visitors. Jadeja cleaned up Angelo Mathews (1) and Ashwin had Dhananjaya de Silva (4) caught at forward short-leg.
Karunaratne was ruled caught behind by umpire off Jadeja but the Lankan skipper survived, using DRS with replay showing that the ball had kissed the thigh pad and the bat before reaching Pant's gloves.
He completed his fifty with a single off Axar, who replaced Ashwin from the pavilion end.
A small partnership began to develop between Karunaratne and Dickwella (12) even as Mohammed Shami troubled the batters with his pace.
Axar broke the 55-run stand when he had Dickwella stumped and also sent back Charith Asalanka (5) by having him caught in backward short leg, where skipper Rohit Sharma took simple catch.
Like the first innings, Dickwella did not build on a start.
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NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul passes away in London
London (PTI): Leading NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul passed away in London on Thursday evening, family sources said. He was 94.
Lord Paul, founder of UK-based Caparo Group of industries, had been taken ill and hospitalised recently, where he passed away surrounded by members of his family.
The House of Lords peer was born in Jalandhar and relocated to the UK in the 1960s in pursuit of treatment for his little daughter Ambika’s cancer.
After she passed away aged four years old, he set up the Ambika Paul Foundation as a charitable trust that went on to donate millions to promote the wellbeing of children and young people all over the world through education and health initiatives.
“The London Zoo is where she was always the happiest,” recalled Lord Paul last month, during the annual commemoration he hosted at the Ambika Paul Children’s Zoo in London – one of the major beneficiaries of the foundation.
After he lost his son Angad Paul in 2015 and his wife Aruna in 2022, he went on to undertake similar philanthropic endeavours in their memory.
“This hall is a tribute to my wonderful wife whom I miss very much; we never had an argument during our 65 years of marriage,” said Lord Paul, when he inaugurated the Lady Aruna Swraj Paul Hall at the historic Indian Gymkhana Club in London in February 2023.
A regular in the annual ‘Sunday Times Rich List’, this year he was ranked 81st with an estimated wealth of GBP 2 billion, largely derived from the steel and engineering multinational Caparo Group.
Headquartered in London, Caparo operates internationally from over 40 sites, with operations based in the UK, North America, India, and the Middle East. His son, Akash Paul, is Chairman of Caparo India and Director of the Caparo Group.
Last year, in his capacity as the Chancellor of the University of Wolverhampton, Lord Paul awarded an honorary doctorate to Akash Paul for services to business administration.
“Perhaps, I am the only graduate to get a degree from his own father, independently approved by the University Board, of course, I may add,” said Akash Paul, who was accompanied by wife Nisha and son Arush at the ceremony held at the London Zoo.
“My son has worked alongside me at Caparo since 1982. Akash was appointed CEO of Caparo Group in 1992. During this time, he furthered Caparo’s growth strategy in UK, Europe, USA and India, as well as expanding capacity and increasing profitability of the companies in the United Kingdom and was president, Caparo Automotive Espana, Spain and Executive Board, Bull Moose Tube, USA,” said Lord Paul, who had served as Chancellor of Wolverhampton University for over 26 years.
An active member of the Indian diaspora in the UK, Swraj Paul maintained his daily routine of attending the House of Lords despite his frailty in recent months.
"We pray for the departed soul. May the noble Lord rest in peace," said Lord Rami Ranger, his colleague in the Upper House of Parliament.
