Pant had been attempting to pull a 133kph short ball from Lahiru Kumara over deep backward square leg for six, when he was struck on the wrist of his bottom hand (left hand). He did not immediately appear to be in severe discomfort, but did receive medical attention for several minutes before leaving the field, not out on 3 off 15 balls.

He was seen in the dugout and in the dressing room through the rest of the day, and had even padded up for the closing overs of day one, though he was not required to bat on Sunday. Kotak said Pant “should be fine” to continue, and named him among the batters he hoped would drive India forward on day two.

Kuldeep had viral fever when he left Galle, says Kotak

But Kotak rubbished the theory.

“I don’t think that’s a relevant question,” he said when asked whether Kuldeep would have definitely played had he been fit. “If he is not fit, how will he think if he plays of not? When he left [Galle], he was genuinely having viral (fever).”

“If the team needs a spinner and then he doesn’t play, there is no need to fake that he wasn’t keeping well. When the guy is not in position to play, there is no point thinking about whether he would have been fit or not. It would be very unfair to think that way.”

Kotak said Kuldeep has progressed well from his illness, and his non-availability coupled with the presence of four left-handers in Sri Lanka’s top seven prompted the management to hand a debut to Jain.

“He has recovered reasonably well. He looked good when I met him in the evening and, obviously, he wasn’t available for the match. So, when it comes to whether we go with three fast bowlers or three spinners and them [Sri Lanka] having four left-handers in top [seven], probably it makes sense to play an offspinner.”