It was surprising to see Sri Lankan batsmen not wearing the mask while batting: Sourav Ganguly

Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly wasn’t happy with the way the entire smog-break was handled and he questioned Sri Lanka’s attitude. The game stopped for a good 17 odd minutes and there was a lot of talk going around with the two umpires being in the centre stage. Visiting sides’ skipper Dinesh Chandimal and his team wanted to go back to the pavilion as the quality of air was deteriorating.

On the other hand, India wanted to continue with the proceedings. Ganguly said that he is worried about the entire issue and wonders if the tourists can compete with Virat Kohli-led side. He also added that India will surely win this match.

“Virat Kohli and the team management saw that the game is going away from their hands, they are losing time and they declared. Virat lost his concentration, the purpose of the game and got out. But when they (Sri Lanka) came out to bat, I didn’t see any mask on all of those five batsmen who were at the crease. Nobody had the mask and if you look at the pavilion they were sitting in, there was no mask either.” Ganguly said.

“So, I don’t know how everything changed in such a quick time. If Gamage and Lakmal were running it with a mask, even Angelo Mathews was running for ones and twos. It’s the same thing. What surprised me is that they never complained, wore the mask or made a show off it. That’s the worrying bit and I hope the intentions were not bad,” he added.

Ganguly takes a dig at the Lankans

The former opener went on to take a dig at the visiting side by saying that they are yet to win a Test in India and to see this kind of attitude is not a very good thing. “It will be an absolute mockery of Test cricket. India were dominating. India beat them at Nagpur, India will beat them here. But if you have to slow down a Test match progress like this, it’s very sad for cricket. Sri Lanka have the history of producing some fantastic cricketers and great cricket. They have never beaten India (in India) since the time they have started playing Test cricket.”he said