India series a bad dream for SL: Jayasuriya

Tuesday, 18 November 2014 00:45 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

ESPNCricinfo: Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lank’s chief selector, has said that the side’s ODI series loss in India is “a bad dream” and he expects the side to bounce back in the forthcoming matches against England. Sri Lanka will host England for a seven-match ODI series, which starts in Colombo from November 26.

Jayasuriya admitted that a second-string bowling attack and the inability of the top order to score big runs were the main factors behind the heavy defeats in India. “I was not expecting miracles for Sri Lanka to win the series in India and all that kind of thing. What I expected was good, competitive cricket,” Jayasuriya said. “If we are to play competitively, somebody had to bat a long innings like the Indian batsmen were doing. One of the top four needed to bat for 40 overs. Unfortunately it didn’t click, set batsmen got out. Overall, it was not the best performance but it’s a good experience for us. “The full strength of our bowlers was not there. We got the second-string bowlers for the series. It’s not easy bowling in India, we all know that. We had to give those bowlers the exposure one day, otherwise we would never get a chance. With injuries to so many bowlers, we had to put them in.

World Cup plans not affected, says MathewsAngelo Mathews said Sri Lanka’s worst-ever ODI whitewash at India’s hands had not upset his team’s World Cup plans, and suggested the side was closer to locking down a World Cup combination, thanks to the series. The 0-5 defeat is the first of its kind in Sri Lanka’s ODI history. They have not been blanked by India since losing 0-3 in 1982, and their previous worst ODI series loss - a 0-4 defeat against Pakistan - had come in 1985.

However, as Sri Lanka had been light on preparation for the series, had missed several key players, and were playing in conditions they are unlikely to encounter at the World Cup, Mathews said his team was capable of moving past the drubbing. “I don’t think the series will have a negative impact,” Mathews said. “We have figured out who our players are going to be. We wanted to try them out here because playing in India is always a lot of pressure. We wanted to know who the guys are, who will perform under pressure. We now have an idea. We just have to flush the defeats out of the system and take the England series on, and move on.” Mathews had hoped Sri Lanka’s woes with the second opener’s position would be solved by series-end, but with Upul Tharanga, Kusal Perera and Niroshan Dickwella not having impressed in that position, the team is still seeking answers there. They have, however, moved closer to filling the lower middle-order spot that was available, Mathews said. Lahiru Thirimanne scored back-to-back fifties in his two matches of the series, and joined Mathews in putting up century-stands in both those matches. “I’m extremely pleased with the way Thirimanne batted because we wanted someone who is solid at No. 6, and I thought he did his job in the last two games,” Mathews said. “All the batsmen got starts but I think we can still improve in all the departments.” Having largely laid blame on the batsmen’s shoulders this series, Mathews said it had been the bowlers who erred in the fifth defeat. Sri Lanka made their first competitive score of the series, hitting 286 for 8, thanks largely to a 139 not out from Mathews, but were unable to defend it against a Virat Kohli-led India batting unit. “I thought it was a competitive game, we have improved from the last four games,” Mathews said. “It was a tough wicket to bat on, it was not coming through. But the batters had to dig deep, stay at the crease, get some partnerships and get a good score for the bowlers to bowl at. I thought we did that, but unfortunately the bowlers were a bit too wayward. “

“India is a bad dream and it is not the first time we have gone through a series like this. People will criticise and say a lot of things about the team that we should not have gone to India and all that. If we had done well everyone would have said that was a good experience for the team. It can happen either way.” According to Jayasuriya, the series defeat could end up as a blessing in disguise coming before a World Cup as the team still had ample time to improve their performances and start peaking in time for the tournament in February-March 2015. “It is not only the cricketers but all of us have to take the blame for the Indian defeat,” he said. “We can’t push the players into a corner, this is the time we need to support them. The entire country needs to support them. “This defeat in a way before the World Cup is like a blessing in disguise. Going through a bad patch I don’t mind that because there are 90 more days to go. If the team can start peaking from the England and New Zealand series till the end of the World Cup, that would be ideal.” Jayasuriya was hopeful the team could recover from the negative impact of the India series before their matches against England: “There will be some negativity after the losses but history shows that we have gone to India and got thrashed and have come back and done well most of the time. We need to get our confidence back from here onwards and have an idea of what the World Cup squad is going to be.” One of the areas Sri Lanka will be looking to address before the World Cup is the second opener’s slot. Upul Tharanga and Kusal Perera have been tried as opening partners for Tillakaratne Dilshan but have not done well. Mahela Jayawardene’s recent statements, expressing his desire to open the innings, has also added another dimension to the issue. “We have discussed a few things recently with the captain, coach and we need to come up with a plan and implement it in such a way that it will be beneficial for the team till the World Cup,” Jayasuriya said. He also stated that developing the part-time bowling skills of batsmen was a key area to fill the gap of the fifth bowler in the side, allowing Sri Lanka to play a seven-batsmen-four-bowlers combination. “We don’t have batsmen who can also bowl a few overs,” he said. “During my time, I used to bowl, there was Aravinda de Silva and Kumar Dharmasena. This is the issue we have in the middle - the batsmen who can bowl a bit. “We can go with seven batters and four bowlers if we have someone to perform the role of fifth bowler. At practice, players like Dilshan and Ashan Priyanjan need to concentrate and bowl a little bit more so that they will be able to play the role of fifth bowler.”

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