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 through almost two days 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. Looking at it, I think we fielded for about 250 overs. They bowled around 130 overs. The overs that were left in the match – there are 450 overs in a Test match – around 70 overs were lost because of rain,” Gill told reporters after Day 5 on Thursday.

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“We were also anticipating whether Day 4 and Day 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 make another 100 runs or whatever comes above.”

“That was the decision on our part. But if we hadn’t enforced the follow-on and it had rained, then 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 take the best decision possible in the situation you are in. So I don’t think it backfired. They played really well. Some things didn’t go our way,” he added.

Gill admitted it was frustrating to watch the game slip away after India had dominated much of the Test, but praised his players for maintaining their intensity throughout the marathon effort in the field.

“It gets very frustrating. Then 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 in 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.”

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“At the end of the day, 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 India captain also dismissed concerns over Mohammed Siraj’s fitness after the fast bowler sent down only 26 overs across the match, explaining that the pacer was simply returning to rhythm after a lengthy break.

“Siraj wasn’t injured. We also felt that even in the first match, after such a long time… the last match he played was against Afghanistan in June. So 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.

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Gill reserved special praise for left-arm spinner Manav Suthar, who finished as the leading wicket-taker of the series with 16 wickets, calling him India’s go-to bowler whenever breakthroughs were needed.

“I think 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 here or there. I think he did that brilliantly,” he opined.

Despite the Colombo draw, Gill felt that India remained in contention for a place in the World Test Championship final.

“I still think we’ve got a pretty good chance to qualify for the WTC. If we play the New Zealand series well, and then hopefully by the time the Australia series comes, if we’re in a situation where we just have to win that series, I think we’ll be in a good position to qualify for the World Test Championship (final),” he said.