Ind vs SL: Should India have enforced the follow-on? Nope, got Virat Kohli back in form

When India decided, and unsurprisingly it must be said, not to enforce the follow-on in the second session of day three of this first Test match against Sri Lanka, there was always that question in the back of the mind: Will rain make that decision look foolhardy?

In Sri Lanka, no matter what time, what season and on which ground, you always have to take rain into account, and while there were two full days and nearly two full sessions remaining in the Test match, an entire day's play being wiped out by rain could never be ruled out.

Taking that into consideration, and with a 309-run first innings lead in the bag, there was a good case for Virat Kohli to enforce the follow-on and put Sri Lanka right back in to bat.

Kohli, though, is not someone who likes to do that. He prefers to bat again and then pile that scoreboard pressure back on the opposition while hoping his spinners R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja come to the party on what should be a wearing pitch on days four and five.

So, when Kohli decided to bat again, it was par for the course.

What Kohli would have considered would be the bowlers getting tired and the dangers of batting fourth in a Test match, if Sri Lanka were to find some form with the willow and set the away side a small, but challenging total.

The fact that the pitch was still pretty good for batting would have only made that decision not to enforce the follow-on a little bit easier. Why ask your own bowlers to toil on an unresponsive wicket, when the batsmen can go out, pile on more runs, put further pressure on the batsmen and then get the bowlers to pick up those wickets on a day four and/or five pitch?

That thinking was sound enough, but the weather also needed to be brought into play here.

In Sri Lanka, especially in a place like Galle, where the sea is a few metres away, rain is always going to have its say, and after it looked like the wet weather could ruin the remainder of day three, all those things would have been running in Kohli's mind.

Had India asked Sri Lanka to bat again, the bowlers would have had a nice little mini-session to bowl, before the rain came down, had a nice little rest, before having another go again till stumps, before resting up overnight and doing it all over again.

However, thankfully, after a little over an hour and a half's stoppage, play resumed, allowing India to go about their business with the bat, without losing too much time. At stumps on day three, India are on 189 for three in 46.3 overs, leading Sri Lanka by 498 runs.

The good thing about the decision to bat again was that it gave Kohli (76 n.o., 114b, 5x4) some time out in the middle. Having struggled a little in Tests over the past few matches, India needed their skipper to find that dominating form again, and Kohli certainly looked good out in the middle in the final session.

Kohli seemed to time the ball really well from the off, with those cover drives and flicks coming out in spades. An in-form Kohli is just what India need, not just for the remainder of this series, but for the upcoming, challenging away tours as well.

To add to the India captain getting some runs, Abhinav Mukund (81, 116b, 8x4) was also able to make a nice score. So far, after making his return to the India side, Mukund, out off what proved to be the last ball of the day, hasn't looked too assured in Test match cricket, but in this innings, he seemed a lot more determined to get a proper score on the board.

Mukund is unlikely to play the next Test match with KL Rahul expected to return to the playing XI, but a confident backup in the team is always a good thing.