Bat like a king, get out like a king - Dhawan jokes over Kandy dismissal

India centurion Shikhar Dhawan said he had no regrets over his dismissal on day one of the third Test with Sri Lanka, jokingly stating: "If you bat like a king, you should also get out like a king."

Dhawan struck 119 from 123 balls in Kandy on Saturday - his second hundred of the series - and shared 188 for the first wicket with KL Rahul (85) to give the tourists a superb platform after they won the toss.

Already 2-0 down in the three-match series, Sri Lanka fought back impressively to reduce India to 329-6 at stumps.

Yet although Dhawan was among the batsmen to fall either side of tea, Dinesh Chandimal pulling off a superb piece of fielding at square-leg to catch a firmly struck sweep, the opener remained in positive mood.

"If you have made runs aggressively, then you will get out that way too. That’s how it is," Dhawan was quoted as saying by the Board of Control for Cricket in India's official website.

"I was saying jokingly that if you bat like a king, you should also get out like a king, you should not be dismissed like a soldier.

"I know I am an aggressive batsman, so I would rather get out that way than getting out in the slips and being defensive because that is not my natural game. My strength is to score quickly and I like to play to my strengths."

India won the first two Tests emphatically and Dhawan did not appear concerned by their wobble with the bat on Saturday.

"That happens. It's not that it has happened for the first time," he added. "We got a good start and still feel, at the end of the day, 329 is a good score. It is a wicket where it is not spinning but it doesn't have bounce, so it's not easy to score runs out there.

"When Sri Lanka come out to bat, we are going to make sure that we squeeze them hard and not give away easy runs."