Sri Lanka hoping batting comes good in Pune

Rex Clementine
in Pune

International cricket is so crowded these days that during this T-20 series in India, the teams will have no chance to train as they play back to back games. Three games in five days with the days in between used for travelling is quite demanding on players. It’s tough on coaches too as they have little time to address the issues that’s troubling the team.

Sri Lanka’s bowlers did a good job to restrict India to 162, a fine effort given the fact that the par score in Bombay is 175. But the batters failed to make an impact and the middle order was left to do too much and although Dasun Shanaka (47), Wanindu Hasaranga (21), Chamika Karunaratne (23) tried to pull it off, it proved to be too much as Sri Lanka suffered a two run defeat.

The top five failed to make an impact although three of them got starts. A decent effort by one of them will have helped Sri Lanka over the line.

“It is all about mentality in T20 cricket and also to find the balance in when to attack and when to knock the singles off. It’s been challenging because sometimes players tend to waste a lot of balls, play too many dot balls and find themselves in a situation where you are far behind the asking rate. So, the easiest way to play T20 cricket is to be positive and look at playing aggressive cricket,” Sri Lanka’s Assistant Coach Naveed Nawaz said.

Sri Lanka did not play Avishka Fernando for the first game but you tend to get the feeling that he could come in replacing Dhananjaya de Silva. Taking DDS off leaves Sri Lanka with one bowling option less as his off-spin has been handy over the years. However, in skipper Dasun Shanaka they have that back up option although that option has been rarely used these days.

There were many positives for the tourists in the opening game particularly in the bowling front and they will be hoping to finish on a high note in the next two games.

Sanju Samson is doubtful for the game after hurting his knee in the first match. He was hurt while fielding and has stayed back in Bombay for a scan instead of travelling to Pune.

A full house is expected for the game with Pune last hosting an international game in March 2021.

The teams will travel to Rajkot for the last T-20 on Friday.