Chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya said that it was not a surprise that the Sri Lankan team lost to South Africa playing on their fast pitches.
“We had included a bunch of young cricketers to South Africa, thinking about the future of the national team. They need time to mould. So we have to accept the loss. We have just begun,” said Jayasuriya during a press briefing at the SLC yesterday.
“As the Sri Lanka team is full of young blood, it is not a surprise that they faced a setback in South Africa. Even though we have given them the best squad, things did not turn out as we thought. We wanted one of the top four batsmen to play a long innings and score a hundred. At least two or three batsmen should have played a long innings. But it did not work,” Jayasuriya explained.
Jayasuriya said the blame should not go to the captain.
“This is not a time to blame and destroy Mathews’ captaincy. This is a time we have to strengthen Mathews. As a former captain I know how these allegations will badly affect Mathews’ moral especially during a series. We have to support Mathews, correct our faults and face the T20 and ODI series with confidence,” he said.
When questioned why Mathews who bowls at 120kmph did not allow Lahiru Kumara who recorded 140kmph to open the bowling, Jayasuriya did not come up with a straight answer.
“Some bowlers like to bowl later when the ball gets old, I do not know whether Lahiru preferred to bowl later,” said Jayasuriya. “We had also decided to send Kusal Perera at number three allowing him to play his usual game, but when he failed we brought Dhananjaya de Silva up the order as he has told there is no support for him at the other end when he comes to bat at number seven. So likewise we had to change our batting order,” Jayasuriya stated.
Add new comment