‘Can be one of Sri Lanka’s greats’: Chetashwar Pujara draws Sangakkara, Jayawardene parallel for Sonal Dinus

Sri Lanka’s Sonal Dinusha celebrates his century on the fourth day of the second Test cricket match between India and Sri Lanka in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (PTI photo) Sri Lankan batter Sonal Dinusha emerged as one of the biggest positives from the drawn two-Test series against India, producing a remarkable display of resilience and consistency to dash the visitors’ hopes of a clean sweep.Dinusha scored three centuries in his four innings in the series and finished as the leading run scorer with 420 runs at an average of 140.00. He also faced 722 deliveries, the most by any batsman in the series, underlining the patience and perseverance that made him such a tough player for India.His performance has now earned him high praise from former India Test batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, who believes the young Sri Lankan has shown two of the country’s greatest current batsmen, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene.“The way he batted throughout the series was phenomenal. It takes me back to that era of batsmen like Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. Growing up, I looked up to those Sri Lankan players,” Pujara said in a video on ESPNcricinfo.Pujara believes that Dinusha has the potential to become one of Sri Lanka’s leading batsmen in the coming years.“In five to 10 years, Sonal Dinusha can be one of the greats of Sri Lankan cricket. He has shown his potential. The way he batted on the last day of the second Test match, it was a commendable performance,” he added.Dinusha’s best contribution came in the second Test in Colombo, where his unbeaten 133 off 264 balls ensured Sri Lanka held India to a draw and denied the visitors a series of clean sweeps.

How the second match went

Coming into the match, India opted to bat first, with centuries from Padikkala (117 in 193 balls, with 12 fours), Dhruv Jurel (115* in 177 balls, with nine fours and two sixes) and half-centuries from Rishabh Pant (63 in 89 balls, with a six and the skipper’s two sixes) putting India on 503/9, with Asitha Fernando has a four-fer.In their first innings, SL were bowled out for 290, with Dinusha’s second century (103 in 162 balls, with eight fours and three sixes) and a fine 80 from Pasindu Sooriyabandar (in 133 balls, with nine fours) standing out. Prasidh Krishna and Suthar were among the wickets for India with three each.During the resumption, India SL were down 218/6, but a 112-run stand between Dinus and Keshar Nuwantha (46 off 150 balls, with four boundaries) put Sri Lanka into a sizeable lead. Dinusha (133* in 264 balls, with eight fours and two sixes) hit his third ton of the series, with lower-order opposition soaking up the deliveries to back him up. SL finished on 429/9, running out the Test.

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