Dickwella’s time-wasting trick is not a big deal, says Virat Kohli

Indian skipper Virat Kohli is well aware of the fact that the Eden Gardens Test ended in a draw. In the final day of the match, every possible attempt made by India turned out well for them. Niroshan Dickwella wasted some time in the middle with skipper Dinesh Chandimal.

There were some heated discussions out there between Virat Kohli and Niroshan Dickwella as the Indian skipper felt that the left-hander Niroshan Dickwella was wasting time on purpose.

The on-field umpires Nigel Llong and Joel Wilson had to intervene them to restore the situation back to normal. This indeed took some time when India are defending the target of 231.

After the match, Dickwella admitted that the time wasting strategy that he adopted to survive at the crease in a bid to save Sri Lanka from all sorts of trouble on the final day was intentional.

Sri Lanka’s total read 75/7 and India were in superior form to blow the Lankan tail with ease. However, with some delay in the build-up, Sri Lanka finally survived at the end.

It is certain that if the Indians had some extra 5-6 overs, it could have been a different result altogether. Whatever has happened has happened and the action tunes to the next match.

When asked about Niroshan Dickwella’s time-wasting strategy was an issue, Virat Kohli responded saying that things like these are quite normal when it comes to saving the team.

“I like to see that competition on the field. In the heat of things or in that moment, I would do anything for my team to win but afterwards, we had a normal chat and in the flight as well.

Those things end on the field but when you are competitive as an opponent, we always respect that about any opponent,” Virat Kohli said at the pre-match press conference.