Exactly a year ago, Sri Lanka thumped then world number 1 ranked Australia, 3-0 at home but today India, the current number 1 Test team returned the favour by thrashing them 3-0.
By – Cricbuzz.com
India humiliate Sri Lanka to complete whitewash
World no.1 ranked India completed their maiden 3-0 clean sweep away from home beating…
It is a worrying factor for Sri Lanka Cricket on how things changed drastically within 12 months but captain Dinesh Chandimal points out the injuries suffered throughout the series as the main cause for the defeat, “I would say the main concern is injuries. The Australia series we had everyone fit. No injuries whatsoever. Everyone chipped in. This series, there are so many injuries starting from Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Rangana Herath and then Asela Gunaratne. They played some really good cricket in the last six months. That’s the main issue. I don’t want to give excuses. We have to perform better than this.” He said.
Out of all three Test matches, Sri Lanka failed to drag the game to even the 5th day which speaks of the incompetence of the island nation against a quality side like India. They failed to cross the 200-run mark in both innings in Pallekelle and the game ended inside three days and the defeat by an innings and 171 runs is Sri Lanka’s fifth-biggest innings defeat and second-biggest at home.
“It’s pretty tough for me and the team. Credit goes to India. They have played outstandingly well in the series. I am disappointed that if we could have dragged the game to the fifth day we could have learned something, but losing within two and half days you cannot give any excuses.” Chandimal further stated.
Dinesh Chandimal was appointed Sri Lanka Test Captain just before the one-off Zimbabwe match which Sri Lanka won after successfully chasing down 388 but due to Pneumonia he failed to play the Galle Test. Since returning to the side, Chandimal made only 96 in 4 innings, averaging 24 – which is his 2nd worst in any Test series playing 2+ Tests and he is the only top batsman for the hosts’ who could not post a 50+ score in the series.
“Consistency has been a huge issue this series. As I said, some players cannot perform well in every series. As seniors, you need to do well. Then only the youngsters will follow. As captain, I would like to take the reasonability. We cannot let the players be mentally down. We are doing the process right. We might not get results soon, but we are confident that the future looks good. I hope that everyone will fire in the next series hopefully.” Chandimal concluded.
