The pre-match press conference where the captain of the team presents himself for a Q&A took an unprecedented turn at Pallakele Stadium yesterday with the captain Upul Tharanga and coach Nic Pothas both issuing statements prior to its commencement.
NIC POTHAS
“We are in good shape at the moment, a couple of very good training days and the boys are in very good spirits. We are very much focussed on the process of policies and procedures that are in place which would stand us in good stead into the future. That future will take time we certainly can’t wave any magic wands around. We are in a position at the moment that England, India and Australia all have found themselves in. We have learnt from them and spoken to them and we are very confident about how we are going about our work. As of tomorrow we just come on and keep on fighting.
“It should be stated that I am very happy with everything that’s going on within our four walls in that change room and just to clarify things I am very happy with the situation with the Board that has been hugely supportive of everything that I do and the players do and, they continue to support us. Certainly I have no issues there.”
UPUL THARANGA
“For our bad luck we could not win the first ODI all the players are in good spirits because we have been preparing for this series well ahead of time. India is one of the best teams in the world today. As a team I have faith in the players so that for the second ODI they will come up with a much better performance. We were in a good position at one stage in the first ODI but unfortunately we collapsed. I believe as a team we can do better than that performance especially in our batting.
“Our supporters even though we lost at Dambulla were behind us. Their expectations are for the team to win. It’s with this in mind that we go into every match and try to win. Every player in the team is committed 100-200 percent to try and win the match. Tomorrow’s match I am certain the players will put in 100 percent effort and take on the responsibility to win it. We have the support of our support staff and Sri Lanka Cricket is giving us all the assistance. We, as a team are prepared to learn from our mistakes from the first ODI and win. Tomorrow’s match is crucial for us.”
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