news-engine

Stay updated with the latest sports news across Cricket, Football, Chess, and more. Catch all the action with real-time live cricket score updates and in-depth coverage of ongoing matches. India captain Shubman Gill defended his decision to enforce the follow-on against Sri Lanka despite the second Test ending in a draw, insisting it was the right call given the weather situation and the match scenario. After taking a 213-run first-innings lead, India asked Sri Lanka to bat again but were unable to claim the 10 wickets as the hosts batted almost two days in their second innings to save the game. Gill said the decision was made with rain in mind and rejected suggestions that it had backfired. “I won’t say that the follow-on backfired. We fielded for about 250 overs. They bowled around 130 overs. Around 70 overs were lost because of rain,” Gill told reporters after Day 5 on Thursday. “We were also anticipating whether Days 4 and 5 would be possible or not. We wanted to take that chance. Either we bat one or one-and-a-half sessions on Day 4, make 200 runs, give them a target of around 400, or give them the follow-on and then score another 100 runs or whatever.” The team didn’t want to take any chances with the weather, given that every match is crucial in the context of the World Test Championship (WTC) final race. “If we hadn’t enforced the follow-on and it had rained, you would have asked why we didn’t give the follow-on because everyone knew it was going to rain. You can always think about this decision in hindsight, but you have to make the best decision possible in the situation you are in. They (Sri Lanka) played really well. Some things didn’t go our way,” the skipper said. Gill, however, praised his players for maintaining their intensity throughout their marathon stint in the field. “It gets very frustrating. You start questioning yourself – was the follow-on the best decision or not? But then you have to go back to that moment and ask yourself: Did I take the best decision at that moment? After that, you can’t do anything about it. You just have to keep trying your best. I think we did that. We tried all that we could.” “From the players, you can expect only one thing — giving 100 percent. I don’t think there was any lack of intensity or effort. The spinners bowled 50–60 overs on the trot. Fielding for three days in these conditions, in this heat, is not easy. So in terms of effort, I would say 10 on 10 for the effort and the intent,” he said. The captain dismissed concerns over Mohammed Siraj’s fitness after the fast bowler sent down only 26 overs across the match, explaining that he was gaining rhythm after a lengthy break. “Siraj wasn’t injured. He was playing after almost a couple of months. When someone comes back after one-and-a-half or two months, it takes time to get back into rhythm. Even in the first Test, we felt the pace was slow. But sometimes, once you play, you come back into rhythm,” he said. Gill reserved special praise for left-arm spinner Manav Suthar, who finished as the leading wicket-taker in the series with 16 scalps. “He’s been the pick of our bowlers. Even when things are not happening, he’s been our go-to bowler. Especially this series, he’s made things happen for us. He’s created chances, which is what I want as a captain. Wickets are never guaranteed, but you expect your bowlers to create chances. It should always feel like a wicket can come. I think he did that brilliantly,” he opined. A 2-0 series triumph would have boosted India’s prospects of qualifying for the WTC final but Gill felt his team remained in contention despite staying in fifth spot in the table. “I still think we’ve got a pretty good chance to qualify for the WTC. If we play the New Zealand series well, hopefully by the time the Australia series comes, if we’re in a situation where we just have to win that series, we’ll be in a good position,” he felt. Stay updated with the latest sports news across Cricket, Football, Chess, and more. Catch all the action with real-time live cricket score updates and in-depth coverage of ongoing matches.