The reason behind India's declaration
India continued to dominate the proceedings in the third Test against Sri Lanka but the visitors' tactics after lunch on day two forced Virat Kohli's hand as India declared on 536/7. Just as India looked to set bat and score over 600, Sri Lankan players wearing masks, captain Dinesh Chandimal's constant complaints and some players going off the pitch, which led to the visitors being unable to field 11 players on the pitch led to the Indian captain declaring.
Extra Cover: Sri Lankan players come out wearing masks on day two of Delhi Test
After play was temporarily stopped due to the severity of pollution after lunch, Chandimal was constantly in the ear of the umpire, trying to go off the pitch. While that never materialized, soon after the quick dismissals of Ravichandran Ashwin and Virat Kohli following the initial stoppage of play after lunch, the visitors didn't have enough players on the field.
There were only 10 Sri Lankan fielders on the pitch just as Lakshan Sandakan was getting ready to bowl the final ball of his 34th over. Play was stopped as the umpires tried to figure out what was happening. Soon after, the Sri Lankan coach Nic Pothas came onto the field of play and attempted to explain what was happening.
Several minutes passed and it looked as though nothing was happening and play came to a standstill on a day in which it had already been stopped due to pollution and players wearing masks and complaining of the severity of the pollution levels, despite the fact that the levels were lower on day two than they were on day two.
Clearly disgusted by everything that was happening on the field, Virat Kohli took matters into his own hands as he declared and announced from the dressing room to the two batsmen at the crease that the hosts were ready to bowl. The Indian captain didn't look too pleased at the decision but decided that the hosts had enough on the board and sent the visitors in.
Just as this happened, Sri Lanka, who were short of fielders, courtesy of their players going off the field, had their physio Nirmalan Thanabalasingam and fielding coach in the whites and ready to come on to the field. But they didn't have to as India declared on 536/7 and sent the Sri Lankan batsman in for their first innings.
Here is what happened in a series of pictures:
