Mission not accomplished! India's WTC final hope after SL win

India players during Day Five of the second Test against Sri Lanka at the SSC Ground in Colombo on Thursday. PIC/BCCI

India came away from Sri Lanka with a third successive Test series triumph, but it still wasn't mission accomplished in its entirety. Having targeted the full complement of 24 points from the two-match showdown, India had to be content with 16 following the disappointing draw in the second Test at the SSC ground, where they failed to drive home the advantage on the final day despite dominating the first four days of the match.

The Colombo stalemate has left their World Test Championship campaign hanging by a slender thread. Shubman Gill's men are still in fifth position in the league standings and have only seven matches left - two in New Zealand in November and five at home against Australia from January. India must win six fixtures to guarantee themselves a top-two finish, a tall order considering that they haven't won a Test in New Zealand since 2009 and that to sweep Australia 5-0 at home is anything but straightforward.

The second Test was a stark reminder of how the Indian Test team is still a work in progress. The inability to make things happen when confronted with dead defensive blades on a slow turner where the pronounced bounce actually worked against the bowling team was particularly stark. India couldn't unearth ways to dislodge the stodgily impressive Sonal Dinusha, who frustrated them throughout the series and batted for nearly 19 hours in all, the primary reason why they had to settle for a 1-0 scoreline.

Shubman Gill spoke at length about the tactics and about the surface, and while he wasn't doling out excuses, there was an air of resignation to his words - just as there had been on the field for most of Thursday's final day - that was hard to ignore. He knows that the road from here will only be more arduous and demanding, though the good news is that all other things being equal, Jasprit Bumrah will line up for both Tests in New Zealand, where he should relish the conditions on offer.

Devdutt Padikkal's twin centuries at No. 3 in his first dalliance with Test cricket in more than 21 months and the rapid strides made by Prasidh Krishna, fast emerging as a dependable strike force, were encouraging, but India's spin cupboard needs fortifying, of that there is little doubt. Series wins overseas are always worth cherishing, but this one left the feeling of what could have been, of a job only three-fourths done.

16
No of WTC points earned by India from the two-Test series against Sri Lanka out of a total of 24