Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag has given a crucial statement on Sri Lanka players wearing masks and complaining about smog on the 2nd day of the Delhi Test. Sehwag condemned the act of the visiting team and stated that it was a pre-planned strategy of the Islanders to restrict Kohli from getting his maiden triple century on his home ground.
While speaking to India TV, Sehwag said,
It was all a strategy against Virat Kohli. They wanted to stop him as it seemed that he was inching towards his triple century. They could have requested the BCCI to host the match in some other city two days before the match if they felt uncomfortable. But it seems like it was all a plan to stop Kohli from reaching 300 runs.
He went on to speak about their behaviour on the ground. He added,
They acted very well. When they came to bat, they didn’t wear masks. Did the pollution level reduce all of a sudden then? It was the same. Indian players batted in the same condition and they were all good. The Sri Lanka Board should think about whatever their players did was wrong.
Recalling one of the incidents from his career, Sehwag described how Lankans usually made such interruptions during an ongoing match. He said,
This is not the first time that Sri Lankans behave like this. In 2010, they bowled no-ball while was batting on 99 and we needed 1 run to win.
Slamming Sri Lanka’s act to delay the game by a huge time margin, Sehwag suggested,
Match referee David Boone should give his report to the ICC regarding the matter that went down, this is not sportsmanship conduct.
On Day 2, the game was delayed for almost 16-20 minutes after Lankan spinner started vomiting which made Dinesh Chandimal asked the umpires to stop the game. The players put on masks on their faces citing smog as the reason for their deteriorating health conditions.
