Former Indian opener Kris Srikkanth reckons the drawn second Test match against Sri Lanka at Colombo has dampened the team’s hopes of qualifying for the World Test Championship final. India had Sri Lanka on the mat as the hosts were leading by 16 runs at the end of the fourth day’s play but had only four wickets in hand in the second innings.

However, Sonal Dinusha once again came up with a brilliant performance, scoring an unbeaten knock of 133 runs off 264 balls. Sri Lanka ended the day’s play at 429-9 before the players decided to shake hands for a draw.

With this draw, India slipped to a PCT of 51.52, and their path to the WTC final has become more challenging.

Kris Srikkanth said on his YouTube Channel, “This draw will make it difficult for India to qualify for the WTC final. Even if India wins five or six of the last seven matches, they’ll have to depend on other results. It’s questionable if India can beat Australia 5-0 at home. If we give rank turners in that series, Australia can also beat India.”

The 1983 World Cup-winning player said India missed a fast bowler like Jasprit Bumrah, who could have got the job done for the team.

“India messed up big time. Sonal Dinusha was amazing throughout the series. This is where you miss a bowler like Bumrah. You need a finishing bowler like him. Though rain helped Sri Lanka a bit, India should have won the match hands down,” said Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).

Bumrah was ruled out with a knee injury, which he suffered during the ODI series against England. He was later replaced by Auqib Nabi Dar but the fast bowler from Jammu and Kashmir didn’t get his chance against Sri Lanka.

India won the two-match Test series by 1-0 as they had won the Galle Test by 165 runs.