Former Indian player Kris Srikkanth backed captain Shubman Gill’s decision to enforce the follow-on in the second Test against Sri Lanka at Colombo. After scoring 503 in the first innings, India bowled Sri Lanka out for 290 early on Day 4.
With poor weather around and given India’s position on the World Test Championship (WTC) table, Shubman Gill asked Sri Lanka to bat again. However, they troubled Sri Lanka, struggling at 229/6 in their second innings at the end of Day 4. But the hosts batted out the entire Day 5, finishing on 429/9, to make a draw.

Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel, “India had no other choice because of the rainy conditions. I agree with the follow-on decision. What would India have done batting again? They would have done nothing. Because it was a rain-curtailed match, time was a factor. The only reasoning against it could have been to give bowlers two hours of rest. Just for that, India could have maybe batted for 30 overs. Now they’ve ended up bowling on three consecutive days, so the bowlers would have been tired.”

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He also said that the drawn second Test against Sri Lanka has massively dented India’s chances of qualifying for the World Test Championship (WTC) final next year as well.

“The only reasoning against it could have been to give bowlers two hours of rest. Just for that, India could have maybe batted for 30 overs. Now they’ve ended up bowling on three consecutive days, so the bowlers would have been tired. India messed up big time. Sonal Dinusha was amazing throughout the series. This is where you miss a bowler like Bumrah. You need a finishing bowler like him. Though rain helped Sri Lanka a bit, India should have won the match hands down,” Kris Srikkanth concluded.