Ever since V.V.S. Laxman and Rahul Dravid ambushed Australia at the Eden Gardens in 2001, most skippers are wary about asking the rival team to bat again.
But there are exceptions and Shubman Gill, goaded by the whimsical rains in the Sri Lankan capital, had no hesitation in enforcing the follow-on.
However, the men from the Emerald Isle, admirably guided by centurion Sonal Dinusha gained a hard-fought draw in the second Test here at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground. Gill, though, felt that given the match-situation, his decision was fine.
“I would not say it (follow-on) backfired. We were also anticipating (wet) weather on day four and five. But you have to take the best decision possible in that situation,” Gill told the media here on Thursday.
Explaining the strategy against the host, the Indian skipper said, “We attacked in the beginning but as the match went on, the pitch got slower. As a batter, if you know that bowlers do not have two modes of dismissal (bowled and lbw) in play, then it becomes easier to bat. We tried our best but they also batted really well. It was obviously disappointing for us.”
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Looking back at the series, Gill drew heart from the performances of some players.
“Devdutt (Padikkal) did really well. And Manav (Suthar), technically this is his first full series, did well. Prasidh (Krishna) has been the pick of our bowlers, been our go-to bowler and created chances. Overall we played good cricket,” he said.
And as for a chance in the ICC World Test Championship final, Gill leant on hope.
“I still think we have a pretty good chance to qualify for the WTC (final). If we play the New Zealand series well and then hopefully when the Australia series comes, we just have to win that series,” he said.
Published on Aug 27, 2026
