Virat Kohli reveals why India enforced the follow-on

Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli was visibly pleased with the team's performance after the second Test against Sri Lanka held at the SSC in Colombo.

Kohli, who has never really been a fan of enforcing the follow-on did so in the Test and that led to India winning the match by an innings and 53 runs.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Kohli revealed that India had enough runs on the board to do so.

"See 183 all out and lead of 440 prompted us, looking at the wicket the way it was spinning, not to bat again. And we had only bowled 40 or 48 overs in the 1st innings. So bowlers were fresh and we got lunch break in between as well.

"We ended up enforcing the follow on because we felt we have enough on the board not to bat again. If this was like 200 or something, we could have still batted and score 200 or 250 runs and put them again," said the skipper.

The Indian side have performed spectacularly over the past one year or so winning the series against New Zealand, England, Bangladesh, and Australia. Time and again, they have been in a situation where they could have enforced the follow-on but chose not to.

With Kohli having tasted success this time around, we might see him use the tactic in upcoming Tests as well if India do manage to take a huge first innings lead.

It was the magnificent performances by the Indian batsmen due to which India were able to enforce the follow-on in the first place.

Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane's spectacular centuries paved the way for India to put on a massive total of 622 on the board.

After bowling the home side out for 183 in the first innings and forcing them to follow-on, the Sri Lankan batsmen put on a spirited show in the second innings with Dimuth Karunarante and Kusal Mendis scoring centuries.

Their performances saw a visible improvement and the duo were seen sweeping the ball a lot. Kohli went on to speak about their tactic and revealed that it was done to get runs.

"People play in different ways and I don't think they drove even a single ball. There was no driving on that pitch. My approach or Ajinkya's or Pujara's might be very different, so it's all about finding way to score runs," Kohli said.

"It happens in cricket sometimes that you play a particular shot and suddenly it becomes a productive shot in that particular innings for you. I think it was a high quality innings; not even one sweep was mistimed or in the air. So, we have to give credit to the batsmen there," he concluded.

Having taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three match Test series, Kohli and his men will look to inflict a whitewash on the Islanders in the third Test which will take place on August 12 at the Pallekelle International Cricket Stadium, Ballagolla.