Opener Dimuth Karunaratne blamed the country’s poor domestic first-class tournament for the ills of Sri Lanka cricket.
Compared to the last series played between the two teams two years ago which was competitive the current Sri Lanka side is struggling to come to terms with a confident Indian team being hit for over 600 plus runs in two consecutive Test matches.
The difference according to Karunaratne was the amount of cricket the two countries played.
“They (India) play a lot of good cricket. They’ve played a lot of IPL and first-class cricket. In Sri Lanka we only have 8 to 10 domestic matches in first-class. Then we have five one-dayers. That’s it for the season. That’s the main reason,” said Karunaratne.
“We have to play more first-class cricket and then we can find more players who can dominate the game. That’s the thinking – what Sri Lanka Cricket has to work on for the players,” he said.
“Although we have no Sanga (Sangakkara) this time we have a bunch of young guys who can dominate the game if we play fearless cricket.”
Karunaratne also admitted that the Lankan bowlers were not consistent with their lines and lengths and this has enabled India to score runs easily.
“There was help in the wicket – you have to admit that. In Galle though there wasn’t much in the wicket, it was the way Shikhar (Dhawan) batted that took the game away from us. We had to go to defensive fields. We can’t attack when two fours are being hit in an over. When we go to defensive fields, they are very smart, so they work the singles,” said Karunaratne.
“Here we bowled well, but in patches. We bowled a few short balls. I don’t think we will get short balls from the Indian team maybe once in five or six overs. We made a few little mistakes with the ball – the short balls especially.
“It became easy for them. When the runs are flowing it’s difficult for a captain to set the field. He will have to spread it. Pujara and Rahane then worked the singles. That’s the main reason they got over 600,” he said.
PRADEEP OUT
"Fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep who suffered a left hamstring injury will be out for two to three months said Karunaratne.
On the question of why Sri Lanka bowlers cannot emulate the Indian counterparts, Karunaratne said, “Maybe they are trying to do variations. Maybe they were a little less aggressive. In Test cricket all the best batsmen play, and we have to bowl intelligently. We have to bowl on one side and set the field.
“It takes 10-15 overs to get a wicket. In the domestic level sometimes you can get five wickets from five overs.
“International cricket is very different, and we need to get used to that. Like it’s tough to get a run, it’s also difficult to get a wicket. We need to learn how to bowl on one side of the wicket and to our field. We need to work hard at it and force the opposition to make mistakes.
REVERSE SWEEP THE KEY
Karunaratne said that Sri Lanka wants to save the Test match and a lot would depend on the overnight pair Kusal Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal.
“In the first 10-15 overs with the ball hardness it is not easy to bat. After the hardness is gone the help is not there for the spinners. Chandi and Kusal batted really well in the last few overs.
We have to play positively especially the sweep and the reverse sweep,” said Karunaratne. “The last time when we played in Galle Chandi got 160-odd scoring a lot of runs off the sweep and reverse sweep. I think that will be key.”
Karunaratne who was asked to bowl as the second seamer in the side said that he was not surprised when he was asked the question whether he could to it.
“I started my career as a bowler, not as a batsman, so I can bowl. The thing is there are a lot of bowlers who can bowl faster than 130-135. We played only with once pace option, so when they asked me if we need to bowl a few overs with the new ball, I said I could. That’s why I bowled a few overs with Chaminda Vaas to see how it goes,” Karunaratne said.
He also picked up his first Test wicket when he dismissed centurion Cheteswar Pujara lbw for 133.
Add new comment