Sri Lanka’s Fast Bowling Coach Rumesh Ratnayake says people are yet to see the best of fast bowler Suranga Lakmal. The 30-year-old bowled a dream spell in Dharamsala in the first ODI against Sri Lanka claiming four for 13 runs.
Fine opportunity for us to create history – Thisara Perera
For how long Thisara Perera will be Sri Lanka’s captain remains to be seen and he appears a stop-gap leader until …
India were shot out for 112 and Sri Lanka were able to chase down the target with seven wickets to spare to end a 12 match losing streak.
“I don’t think we are seeing the best of Suranga Lakmal consistently. It is a matter of him coming out of some niggles. He has a few niggles, but a big heart. He understands what timing is and what rhythm is. Once he gets rid of injuries I am sure he will be more consistent,” Ratnayake told ThePapare.com.
Read More : Clinical Sri Lanka demolish India to end ODI losing streak
The spearhead was well backed up by Angelo Mathews, who shared the new ball and Nuwan Pradeep, who came as first change as they reduced India to 29 for seven.
“That was an excellent spell by Suranga. It is easy to say that the wicket was doing much, well, the wicket was doing even when we were batting. It is a matter of pitching it up at the right area. It’s one of the best spells I have seen by a fast bowler,” Ratnayake added.
Lakmal bowled his ten overs on the trot and hardly bowled a loose ball. “There was lot of support role happening there. First support was from Angelo. I thought he bowled really well. Just a few overs but he kept the pressure up to allow Suranga do what he did. The areas where he bowled were unbelievable. When Angelo finished, we had Nuwan Pradeep coming in and keeping up the pressure. That helped Suranga to bowl the ten overs off. We were at one point wondering whether to take him off after seven overs. I had a chat with him quickly and he was ready to keep bowling although he was not feeling all that well. He was willing because he was pumped up,”Ratnayake pointed out.
Read More : Suranga Lakmal the lion heart
Lakmal rarely clocks 140kmph, but smartly outfoxed the batsmen during his long spell. “The meters don’t lie. The meters said he was hitting 134 or so. Maybe he has lost a bit of pace. That I would put out to injury. That know how, that experience that he brings into the team is huge, He is a huge value to the team.”
As the leader of the attack, Ratnayake said that Lakmal was setting up plans for each bowler. “He is extremely fantastic. He leads by example, encourages people and makes it simple. I have heard him say some superb stuff. During the Test series as well, he was giving lot of input. Fast bowlers have that in common as they help each other. Today we had an unofficial meeting amongst fast bowlers, he was telling others what they should be doing. How they should be bowling and stuff.”
Sri Lanka are on the verge of creating history as they have never beaten India in India. “It’s very important for us to win the series. We will take it one by one. We will take the confidence of the last match. We will win the processes, those small battles and then the result will come.”
