PALLEKELE: Lahiru Thirimanne who top scored for Sri Lanka with a determined 80 in the third ODI against India at the Pallekele International Stadium said that a few tips from the great Kumar Sangakkara helped him regain his batting form.
Out of the national team for nearly 20 months Thirimanne made good the lucky break he got to return to the national side by making the highest score by a Sri Lankan batsman in the ongoing series.
Thirimanne replaced Upul Tharanga in the number four spot of the batting order after the one-day captain was suspended for two matches by the ICC for slow over rate.
“I met Sanga during the England series and then a few other times as well. It’s great to talk to him and get tips. He has played at the highest levels and those little inputs he gives you can change your batting. It was so nice to have a chat to him,” said Thirimanne.
Although his innings failed to bring Sri Lanka that elusive victory in the series, from a personal point Thirimanne said, “it was a satisfying knock but I couldn’t finish things off”.
The left-hander said that in the time he was away from the team he worked really hard at his game to make a comeback.
“We have red ball group and a white ball group. I practiced with them. We had practices everywhere,” said Thirimanne.
“There were a few areas that I had to work on during my time out of the international arena. I worked really hard to adjust to little things. It seems really good. It’s about experience and working really hard on your batting when you are out of the team. Those things went well for me,” he said.
Apart from a 72-run stand which he was associated with Dinesh Chandimal, Thirimanne could not get the support of any of the other players.
“Lots of batsmen got starts but they could not convert them to a big innings. As a batting unit, we must think of how we should convert a good start to a big innings. In a game like this, at least three batsmen should go for big scores to reach a challenging total. We’ll have to go back to Colombo and talk on this,” said Thirimanne.
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