Tuesday Dec 02, 2025
Tuesday Dec 02, 2025
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Sanath Jayasuriya unhappy and disappointed with the team’s performance
Sri Lanka’s Head Coach Sanath Jayasuriya expressed his disappointment following his team’s 3-0 defeat at the hands of Pakistan in the three-match ODI series that concluded at Rawalpindi on Sunday.
“In the past year, we have been playing very good ODI cricket, but to lose 3-0 to Pakistan, I am very disappointed,” said Jayasuriya at the end of the third ODI, which Sri Lanka lost by six wickets.
“Losing I don’t mind—it is part and parcel of the game. If you take the first ODI, we should have won that. We got the opportunity to bat second and we had a reachable target of 300, even though we gave over 100 runs in the last 10 overs,” explained Jayasuriya. “We had seven batsmen plus an all-rounder and we had a very good opportunity to win that game. That was my disappointment. Some of the shot selections were not the best, especially the Captain, Charith Asalanka, who played a bad shot (and got stumped)—a mistake which he accepted. There were a few others who were guilty of playing bad shots.”
“The thing is, the batsmen are not struggling – they are getting to 30s and 40s – but I am disappointed and angry because they are getting a start and not going for a big score. You cannot do that. There is no excuse for it. You can do it once, but not repeatedly, which means there is something wrong. It is not going to help anyone – not the team, not the players and not Sri Lanka cricket.”
Only two batsmen scored fifties in the entire series for Sri Lanka compared to Pakistan, who had two centurions and five scoring fifties.
“The difference between the two sides is that when the Pakistan batsmen were struggling, they tried to stay until the 30th or 40th over because they knew that later, the wicket will become easier to bat. We had to do the same thing, but unfortunately, we didn’t learn from them,” said Jayasuriya.
“The wickets are on the slower side when you bat first; it is two-paced, but with the dew and the lights on, it’s a different wicket altogether in the night. We knew that and we had to accept it. However, we couldn’t control it and adjust accordingly. Previously also, we had discussed this issue and rectified it to a great extent, but in this series, they were not able to do it,” he added.
As regards the number of dot balls Sri Lanka played out, Jayasuriya said that at every team meeting, it had been discussed.
“At every match, we ask one batsman to get a 100 and a century partnership and one player to get over three wickets. These are little targets which we have set for the players. They have been doing it but unfortunately, not in this series.”
With regard to batting debutant Pavan Rathnayake at number seven, Jayasuriya explained: “Pavan was sent down the order because we wanted to have a left-hand/right-hand combination against the spinners. The two batters in the middle were struggling to read the googly and the chinaman deliveries of Faisal Akram. At that stage, we didn’t want to send a debutant and put him in a difficult situation. That’s why we sent a left-hander to change the line and length.”
Jayasuriya accepted the fact that apart from the first ODI, Pakistan outplayed Sri Lanka in the next two matches in batting and bowling. – [ST]
