Cheteshwar Pujara has questioned how Shubman Gill handled a testing spell on day four of the Colombo Test, saying India retreated into defence too quickly when Sri Lanka began to hit back.
India had enforced the follow-on after dismissing Sri Lanka for 290 in their first innings. Sri Lanka responded well, reaching 229/6 before rain ended day four early, with a lead of 16 runs.
The session that tested Gill
Pujara believed the session between lunch and tea examined Gill as captain. In his view, India needed more courage and should have kept urging their bowlers to chase wickets, instead of looking to protect runs straight away. He felt a more attacking field and bowling plan could have been kept going for longer.
Pujara did back Gill to learn from it. As Gill continues to develop as India’s Test captain, he said, moments like this could offer useful lessons.
Defending the follow-on
Pujara did not criticise the decision to make Sri Lanka follow on. He suggested the weather forecast was an important consideration, since rain threatened the match and India may have wanted to maximise their time in the field rather than spend it batting.
He said the call did not look wrong at that point, particularly because India had already taken six wickets in the second innings before the rain arrived.
At that stage the match remained finely balanced, with India still needing the remaining Sri Lankan wickets and the weather still a threat.
