The next time we play, we will go after Wellalage – KL Rahul

The Indian batters had a tough time countering young Sri Lankan spinner Dunith Wellalage, as he went onto claim a fifer and then troubled the bowlers too with a resilient knock. KL Rahul and Ishan Kisan knitted together a crucial partnership that allowed India to steady the ship before Wellalage came back with another strong spell, while Charith Asalanka too picked a 4-wicket haul.

Rahul, who managed a well-constructed 39 against Sri Lanka had a message for the spinner, who proved to be quite an unravelling for the Indian batting unit. The 20-year-old spinner bagged the big wickets of Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya.

Talking to reporters after the match, KL Rahul said, “He was spot on. He got five wickets. He did the job for his team. He looked the most dangerous bowler in Sri Lanka's attack till I was playing. What more can I say? He got five top-order batsmen out. It was a good day for him, he did well with the bat too.”

Issuing a word about what would be their intentions the next time India plays Sri Lanka and Wellalage, Rahul said, “The next time we play, we will go after him.” This message was clearly indication of the fact that the Indian batters may have just found a chink in his armour which will make this an intriguing set up between the two sides.

He concluded by saying, “After playing the first few balls I tried to figure out what are the shots that I can play here. You can get into your shell, defend and try and defuse the threat but I thought I would try and play my shots but be careful about what shots to choose against which bowler. That is sort of an on-the-go decision you make. I'm glad the shot selections I made till the point I got worked well. Maybe next time it might be a bit different. Yesterday was different. We were able to play more shots, but today was different. As a batter, you try and assess the situation and conditions and decide what shots you can play.”