Former great Kumar Sangakkara has praised the Sri Lankan team for the character they showed in the first Test against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi on Monday that ended a series of poor results.
Sri Lanka were low on confidence having suffered nine straight defeats at the hands of India. Pakistan were clear favourites after they were set a target of 136 runs, but veteran spinner Rangana Herath took six wickets in the second innings to bowl Sri Lanka to a famous win.
It was Sri Lanka’s first overseas win against a team ranked higher than them since beating England at Headingley in 2014. The Abu Dhabi game was also the first time Pakistan suffered defeat at that venue in seven years.
“It was a fantastic victory. Exactly what the team needed. You have to understand as fans that we played unbelievably well. But to expect the team to win every time is not going to help. The team has shown signs of improvement and the confidence is coming back. The boys should be allowed to play normally rather than putting pressurize on them to keep winning and replicate this win every time they go out to the middle,” Sangakkara told ThePapare.com.
Sangakkara also praised the efforts of captain Dinesh Chandimal, who batted for over nine hours to post an unbeaten 155. Chandimal then captained the side well, keeping up the pressure and rotating his bowlers well to pull off Sri Lanka’s narrowest ever Test win in terms of runs.
“Chandi was excellent I thought. The way he maneuvered the field when Pakistan were chasing a small target was great to see. The responsibility he took while batting big, digging deep was superb. Overall he captained the side very well. I am also pretty impressed with the efforts of Dimuth Karunaratne; he has started to become consistent now. He is the kind of guy who is capable of batting for long hours and I feel things are falling in place now,” Sangakkara added.
Niroshan Dickwella also made crucial contributions in both innings. He made a career best 83 in the first innings and then went on to post a crucial 40 not out in the second essay as Sri Lanka were desperately trying to set Pakistan a decent target. In the end, it proved to be just enough.
“Dikka is a guy who can change a game easily. He has been criticized I know for the way he has been getting out. He has been blamed for playing bad shots or whatever. But, that is what makes him special. He should be given the freedom to play the natural game that he is playing rather than clipping his wings. Once in a while he will become a cropper, but I can tell you that he has got a bright future ahead of himself,” Sangakkara further said.
The former great arrived in Colombo after a spectacular season of county cricket for Surrey. The south London county finished third in the Championship. Sangakkara, who was the first player in the season to score 1000 runs finished with almost 1500 runs. He was the highest run getter in the season with eight hundreds – including twin hundreds at Lord’s against Middlesex. He finished with an average over 100.
Sangakkara also praised left-arm-spinner Rangana Herath, whose 11 wickets in the game won him the Man of the Match award. Herath in the process became the first left-arm spinner in the history of the game to claim 400 Test wickets. He also became the first bowler in the history to take 100 Test wickets against Pakistan. Former Indian captain Kapil Dev had taken 99 wickets against Pakistan.
“All Sri Lankans should be grateful for Rangana Herath. He has won us many games singlehandedly. He has been a true leader and has added amazing value to the team. Rangana is the ultimate professional in cricket,” Sangakkara went onto say.
A draw in the next Test here in Dubai is sufficient for Sri Lanka to move above Pakistan in the ICC Test Rankings. A 1-0 win will give Sri Lanka 93 points and move them to number six while Pakistan will slip to number seven with 89 points.
The second Test gets underway on Friday. It will be Sri Lanka’s first ever day night Test match.
