Star Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal is well known for his efforts to interfere with the opponent batsmen’s focus when he is not batting. Jaiswal’s mental tricks seemed to be effective on the morning of Day 5 of the first Test match against Sri Lanka, as India drew closer to winning a significant victory in Galle by dismissing veteran wicketkeeper-batter Niroshan Dickwella cheaply. With six wickets remaining, Sri Lanka needed 288 runs to win when the day resumed. Sonal Dinusha and captain Dhananjaya de Silva, who went undefeated overnight, fought hard to hold off the Indian bowlers. Before Ravindra Jadeja gave India a much-needed breakthrough by removing De Silva for 59, the pair accumulated 95 runs.

After scoring 80 off 115 balls during Sri Lanka’s comeback from a top-order collapse in the first dig, Dickwella entered next. India was aware of how crucial his wicket was. Then, during Prasidh Krishna’s 60th over, Jaiswal made the decision to speak briefly with Dickwella. Initially, he encouraged the Sri Lankan batter to maintain his form from the first innings by jokingly asking him to attempt a big shot.

Jaiswal: Come on, yaar! There were a lot of shots in the first innings. We need to see something.

Dickwella: Yes?

Jaiswal: Yes, I want to see. Come on, hit him there (pointing to the square leg area).

Dickwella: No requirement. I have no power.

Jaiswal: You have power, do it!

Dickwella: Take me to IPL, then I will hit.

Jaiswal: We will, 100 per cent. Come on, hit a six and I will take you to the IPL.

However, later in Krishna’s over, Dickwella attempted a big shot but, as fate would have it, edged the ball through to the wicketkeeper. He was out for 10 off 17 balls. When Jaiswal realised his ruse had succeeded, he was beaming, and his India teammates acknowledged his mind tricks and joined him in celebrating the dismissal.

As for the match, the Indian team managed to win the match by a massive margin of 165 runs. Devdutt Padikkal won the Player of the Match for his astonishing 167-run knock in the first innings, which was followed by a 44 in the second. KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel and Rishabh Pant also contributed well with the bat, but the standout player, who stole the limelight, was Manav Suthar, who finished the match with 10 wickets, 4 in the first innings and then 6 in the second. This was also the second 6-wicket haul in Test cricket.