Former Indian pacer Dodda Ganesh slammed Team India for their failure to win the second Test match. The side despite having the higher ground for a majority of the series. After winning the series opener at Galle, Shubman Gill & Co seemed to be in control of most of the second Test. However, standout Sri Lankan performances chipped away at the Indian composure, leading to a scrappy draw on Day 5.
A lot of soul-searching to do for India -Dodda Ganesh
After Team India’s disjointed performance on Day 5, former Indian seam bowler Dodda Ganesh took to his X handle with a scathing remark for the Shubman Gill-led side:
No excuse for bottling this test, especially after getting them under the mat by the end of fourth day. Lot of soul searching to do for India #SLvIND
— Dodda Ganesh | ದೊಡ್ಡ ಗಣೇಶ್ (@doddaganesha) August 27, 2026
India amassed 503 runs in their first innings, bowling Sri Lanka out for only 290 later on, and thus enforcing a follow on for the Lankans. At the close of play on Day 4, the visitors had reduced the hosts to 229/6. As Day 5 dawned, an away clean sweep victory seemed like a matter of ‘when’ and not ‘if’. However, in a surprising turn of events, Sri Lanka batted out the whole day, losing only three wickets. The scoreboard at stumps on Day 5 read 429/9 for the home side, saving the Test for the Lankans.
India’s World Test Championship Scenario
Currently, India stands in fifth place in the World Championship Standings, below Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Bangladesh. Though the series win kept India’s position at number five firm, their inability to pull off a 2-0 victory severely dented their chances of a top two finish, and therefore their chances to qualify for the final at The Oval.
Sri Lanka’s fight ensures that they hold onto their place in the #WTC27 standings 👊
More ➡️ https://t.co/Ag5irO9kgu pic.twitter.com/vPpFPQi4Xf
— ICC (@ICC) August 27, 2026
Shubman Gill Reflects on India’s Decision to Enforce Follow-On
Team India captain Shubman Gill defended his decision to enforce a follow-on onto the hosts with a 213-run-first-innings lead early on Day 4, citing the unpredictable weather as his motivator. However, the decision seemed to fatigue India’s bowlers by the second half of Day 5, having been on the field since the ending hours of Day 2.
“I think they played brilliantly this game. In hindsight, you can think, okay, if enforcing the follow-on was a right decision? But keeping the weather and everything in mind we weren’t sure if there’s going to be a full day of game on day five. But you can only talk about these things in hindsight, when you’re in that moment you try to take the best decision as you can, and some of the things then go our way, but that’s totally fine,” said skipper Shubman at the post-match press conference
Shubman Gill became the first captain to not win a Test after enforcing a follow-on. India will head into the following games with much to reflect upon as they clinched the series 1-0 but were left wanting more.
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