Monday: Skipper Dinesh Chandimal expressed his disappointment with his team’s sub-standard performance in the second Test against India which they lost by a record margin of an innings and 239 runs here on Monday.
“We spoke a lot of things after we lost to India 3-0. We wanted to compete against them. We spoke of the need to take it to the final day. Then only they will panic and it will present us an opportunity. That is what we failed to do in this game. I am really disappointed as captain,” said Chandimal at the post-match press conference.
“We talk a lot of these things at team meetings and stuff. But when we go out to the middle, we fail to produce the results. We have experience and there are some good young players, but we fail to get into good form. It’s up to the individual players. At least in the next game, I hope that the batsmen will produce runs. There’s no excuse if you can’t make 400 runs in the first innings. Then only you can compete against India. I hope the batters will do something in the next game,” he said.
Chandimal in partnership with tailender Suranga Lakmal showed the rest of the batters that there were no demons on the pitch when they added 58 runs for the ninth wicket.
“We won the toss and the best days to bat in a Test match is the first three days. There was hardly anything on that wicket. The batsmen needed to take responsibility. We know that India are playing only four bowlers. If we could have taken their bowlers into the third spell, they will be in trouble,” said Chandimal.
“They are also humans and fatigue will get to them. That was our plan. The batters failed to execute those plans. Had we done that we could have fought better.”
Chandimal said that he could not put a finger on why the batsmen failed to execute their plans in the middle.
“We speak a lot and train harder. The responsibility taken by the batsmen has to increase. When we go out to the middle, we need to be positive. Then only the bowlers will make a mistake. We speak a lot about it. If we are negative, they will get on top,” said Chandimal.
“Test cricket is much to do with temperament. You can’t play Test cricket like you play ODIs and T20 cricket. In Tests, you get a variety of situations. We cannot get away by saying that I need to play my natural game. Sometimes according to conditions and situations you need to adapt and if you don’t do that, it will be tough for us.”
Commenting on the worst Test defeat suffered by Sri Lanka, Chandimal said, “It’s very sad. As captain, I came to India with big hopes. I was hopeful we will be competitive given the team we have. We need to come out of the hole that we have dug ourselves into. Just three or four players trying to get us out of the hole won’t help us. Everyone has to make an effort. We have 15 players and I hope all 15 will have that desire to do well.
“We need to get confidence about our game. Take a look at what mistakes we made and the positives we did. I thought we bowled and fielded well. You can’t do much when you have put 200 runs on the board. We did well to keep them down to 3.5 runs an over whereas in Sri Lanka we conceded 4.5 to 5 runs an over,” Chandimal added.
“The fielding was top class throughout the 176 overs. But the main thing when it comes to Test cricket is batting well in the first innings when you are playing a good team. Otherwise, it’s tough to compete against a team like India. We have to discuss about getting 400 runs on the board.
“We saw a big change in the first Test. Everyone got a feeling that we could win the game. We should believe in ourselves. That belief was there in Calcutta. If we do that we can have that competitiveness,” he said.
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