Former Indian batter and presenter Mohammad Kaif has heaped praise on Sonal Dinusha for his exceptional knock in the first innings of the second Test against India, which is currently underway in Colombo.
Speaking exclusively on Sony Sports Network, Kaif asserted that Dinusha should get more praise than the Indian No.3 batter Devdutt Padikkal because a lot of his runs have come while batting with lower-order batters.
Furthermore, Kaif added that while Dinusha has had to take the strike from the non-strikers, Padikkal had top and middle-order players like KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, and Rishabh Pant as non-strikers.
“Padikkal comes at No. 3. Sonal Dinusha bats at No. 6 or No. 7. It means he has scored most of his runs batting with lower-order batters. This is a different aspect of the game where you take your game forward with tailenders and build partnerships. You have to talk to them and ask them to stay and play cautiously,” he said.
“He takes a single off the last ball and keeps the strike. It shows that, along with skill, his cricketing sense is fabulous. Padikkal plays at No. 3, and he has proper batters with him. KL Rahul is there with him, or he builds a partnership with Shubman Gill. You will rarely find what he (Dinusha) is doing,” Kaif added.
In the first Test against India, Dinusha scored an impressive century in the first innings, while he smacked an 84-run knock in the second innings to amass 184 runs across both innings. Moreover, he continued his good form with an unbeaten 85-run knock in the first innings of the second Test.
On the other hand, Padikkal is currently leading the run-scoring charts in the two-match series with 328 runs from three innings at an average of 109.33 with 33 fours and a six.
