Former captain and the batting coach of the national cricket team, Marvan Atapattu told ‘The Island’ on Tuesday that Sri Lanka’s approach with the bat in Cardiff was wrong, where they were shot out for an embarrassing 138 runs.
A magical spell of fast bowling by Lasith Malinga helped the Sri Lankans to hang in there before going down fighting. A few umpiring decisions also cost the Sri Lankans dearly, but the team’s approach with the bat was suicidal.
“Looking at the total that we got, it wasn’t satisfactory. We could have read the situation from the middle. We could have adjusted to settling down to a much lesser target. When you are looking at 230-240 at the fall of the second wicket, then the way the wicket behaved and the way we approached it things, went wrong for us,” Atapattu said on Monday, at the team’s posh hotel in Westminster, facing the Big Ben.
Sri Lanka were bowled out inside 38 overs and their total is the lowest recorded in Cardiff in ODIs and only three batsman managed to get to double figures. “The batters we have got are the most experienced out of all teams. We have the experience, but we need to put that to practice. We have spoken about it. Time to time it will happen. Hopefully, we will read situations better and think 50 over cricket and batting 300 balls of the innings,” Atapattu added.
“Not batting 50 overs was very disappointing. It’s mandatory that we use the full quota of 300 balls. Not to have used it is something that we really regret as a group,” Atapattu further said.
When asked whether losing a wicket in the very first ball of the innings took the momentum away from them, Atapattu said each batsman had to play his role for the team to succeed. “Everybody has been given a role. Not every day will our batsmen get off to a flying start. Playing seven batsmen, we have the cushioning of one extra batsman for us to get to the target we want. We needed to have two partnerships going to get to the total we required.”
There’s been criticism regarding Sri Lanka’s lack of preparation ahead of the tournament, but Atapattu said that due to the current hectic schedule, it was tough to get the ideal preparation. “With the amount of cricket being played throughout the year, you will never get the right preparation you would like to have. Those days are gone. You get plenty of cricket nowadays, and all sorts of formats come in. It won’t be ideal, but these guys are professionals, compared to our times or 10 years ago. This is when professionalism comes into the equation.”
There have been also questions asked about the three senior players in the side, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene occupying the top three positions in the batting order, leaving little experience in the middle order. “It’s something that we have spoken about. I see a point in what you say, but that’s something that we decided to stick with for this tournament, and we don’t want that to be a disturbing factor. We would like to see them batting at their positions and doing their best. If they come up trumps, the other side of the coin is that you will do well. The basic principle of one day cricket is that you get your best batsmen to bat early in the innings, so that you give them ample time and face more balls. But in different conditions, against different opponents, those options could vary and there are times where it demands that you need to be flexible. We are open to it. It is not something that we have said; no this is our batting order.”
Despite the disappointments in Cardiff, Atapattu expected the team to bounce back in the next two games. “True, we had a bad batting innings the other day. The spirit was high and the boys were fighting and we almost got through. But unfortunately, it didn’t happen for more than one reason. It’s about experience. Given the reputation of some of these guys, they want to win these two games badly. Nobody would like their reputations to be tarnished, playing in England, especially.”
Several young players have started producing big scores for both the national team and ‘A’ team, providing the confidence that there are younger players to take up the mantle when the seniors go. Atapattu said that when young players join the squad, they need to be pushed to bring out the best from them. “The important thing is that we have got a good set of seniors who set the example. We have to understand that our nature or culture is such that these youngsters need to be pushed to reach greater heights. I reckon, we as coaches, become facilitators when we go in front of the seniors and in the meantime, be pushy coaches with some of these youngsters. Then at one point, they will realise what’s good for them and what’s not. Our system is different compared to countries like England, Australia or South Africa where you see professionalism setting in very early. For us, it won’t happen. Sticking to the basics is important to being a good batsman. If you have a good foundation, from there you can modify your game to reach any level.”
