For Sri Lanka men’s new(ish) coach Gary Kirsten, the Test team is “gaining some shape”. By this he means players are beginning to function more consistently in their roles.

Sri Lanka are yet to win a Test under Kirsten, and have lost two of the three they played, having also lost in Antigua in June. Now they have been trounced in Galle by 165 runs by India. But Kirsten struck an upbeat tone.

This was Sri Lanka’s first Test at home in 14 months. Before June, they had gone a full 12 months without a Test of any kind.

“It’s sometimes tough when you don’t play much Test cricket to understand how you need to play,” Kirsten said. “This is our third Test in the space of a couple of months, and I can see already the team developing. And we’re starting to build some shape into the team, but we need to turn it into a performance at some point.

“You need to be able to get 20 wickets consistently, bowl teams out with your seam, and be able to bowl teams out with spin as well. It’s really important that we develop that Test match squad.”

Sri Lanka had struggled to take 20 West Indies wickets in Antigua, across both Tests, but managed it on a much more bowler-friendly surface at Galle, against India. Kirsten said the top order batting was where Sri Lanka lost the match, with Sri Lanka having been 90 for 5 in the first innings, then 47 for 4 in the second.

A busier Test schedule over the next eight months, however, may allow Sri Lanka to build up momentum, or so Kirsten hoped. Beyond the second Test against India at the SSC, Sri Lanka have away tours to Pakistan and New Zealand before the end of the year. They also host South Africa at home for two Tests next February and March.

“I think the challenge for the modern players, especially in Sri Lanka, is you don’t play much Test cricket. At least now we’ve got another six to go within the next six months or so, so it’s great to get into the Test match game a little bit and then to understand how to score runs and bat for long periods of time and have an influence on a game over a long period of time.”

On the bowling, Kirsten said he was largely satisfied with Sri Lanka’s efforts. They dismissed India for 193 in the second innings, though having established a 178-run first innings lead, they were batting aggressively to set up the final innings, and to give themselves time to bowl Sri Lanka out.

“I thought we did a brilliant job with the ball yesterday,” Kirsten said. “We got ten wickets in just under 50 overs, which is an amazing effort. In fact, if we had taken one or two catches, we might have been chasing early 300s, which might have changed the complexion of the game.

“Where we probably lost the game was losing wickets up front in both innings. You can’t afford that in Test cricket, especially when the opposition has hit 460-odd. India applied themselves really well in that first innings. “