The Kolkata Contretemps: Dickwella clarifies

Rex Clementine, in The Island, 23 November 2017, under title “Dickwella opens up on Calcutta antics”
Sri Lanka’s wicketkeeper batsman Niroshan Dickwella engages in an altercation with Indian captain Virat Kohli as the umpires try to intervene.

Sri Lanka’s young wicketkeeper batsman Niroshan Dickwella, who was the talking point for his antics in the opening Test against India in Calcutta, revealed that he tried to get under the skin of the Indian players in a bid to kill time.

India reduced Sri Lanka to 22 for four and were sniffing a win when Dickwella annoyed them. “How it all started was, I hit a six over square leg. There were three fielders behind square on the leg side and I brought that to the notice of the umpire Nigel Llong. A no-ball was called and then Virat Kohli came towards me and told me that that’s the umpires’ job and you don’t worry. That’s how it all started,” Dickwella told The Island.

“I thought, hang on, this is a good opportunity to get into an argument and kill some time. Kohli quickly realized what my intentions were and started walking back. Then the Mohammed Shami thing happened. It was funny I thought, I would like to think that I won that battle,” he went on.

“Shami came up to me and said, ‘Look here, I am the local boy. I am from Calcutta.’ Then I said, ‘I don’t give a damn.’ A few seconds later, I said, ‘But you are bowling with good pace and bounce.’ Perhaps he was happy with the complement and started walking back.

“I was taking my time while I was batting and Shami was rushing to bowl and that didn’t go down too well with the Indians. I was so happy to be in that situation. The captain was on the other side and was guiding me asking me to be calm and play the normal game and they will get frustrated,” he further said.

Dickwella, who is 24 is a carbon copy of former captain Kumar Sangakkara when it comes to antics. Earlier on in his career, Sangakkara too got under the skin of the opposition. Incidentally, both represented Trinity College, Kandy.

“Trinitians are lions. We don’t take a back foot. We back ourselves. We play for our pride. Trinitians always go for the kill,” Dickwella went onto say.

Having made his Test debut two years ago, Dickwella has an impressive record and looks as a player who could make a big impact in the future. “It was a good Test match. We gained lot of experience. First couple of days it rained and it was tough to get on with the game. We had to leave after a few overs and then had to come back again. On the third day the pitch was very good. India struggled a lot in their first innings. We did a few mistakes in the second innings. We were on the back foot and negative,” Dickwella elaborated.

In the second innings, when India were seven wickets down, they only had a lead of 159 runs and with 60 overs left, the tourists had their chances to win the game. “There was a good opportunity for us to win the Test match. But Virat Kohli took the game away from us. He batted really well. Crucial knock it was for them. He wasn’t rushing. Wasn’t fancying to play too many shots. We were bowling bouncers and he was ducking well and didn’t want to do anything silly. He settled in and after about an hour started playing a few shots. The game was going away from us from that point onwards.”

*** ***

ADDENDUM:  THOUGHTS

Q – WHAT if Dickwella has unfolded this event when the Aussies were fielding?

ANS:  Volaaare !! Cantaaare !!! Shit would have hit the fan! Aussie SHIT. ….. WHOLLY Aussie shit.

 Hit