Sri Lanka’s captain Wanindu Hasaranga.
| Photo Credit: AFP
Sri Lanka captain Wanindu Hasaranga believes they’ve extensively discussed their repeated mistakes in big tournaments and now it’s time to shift their focus towards rectifying those faults, following the ignominy of another group league exit.
Hasaranga termed his team’s 83-run win against the Netherlands as something that came “too late” after losing their games against South Africa and Bangladesh in the group stage of the T20 World Cup.
“After every tournament, we gather around and discuss that we committed several mistakes. As a team, we should decide if we have to rectify those mistakes. I think we have not rectified our mistakes yet.
“As a captain, I feel very sorry about this,” Hasaranga didn’t beat around the bush after another inglorious first round exit having finished ninth in the ODI World Cup last year.
“We have discussed our mistakes in this World Cup and from previous ODI World Cup as well. So as we have not rectified those we had to get out of this tournament this soon.” The leg-spinner felt that it was the batting that led the team down.
“When we think of the bowing battalion, we are on the top in this tournament as well. Unfortunately, I know our batting wasn’t good enough as we expected and that’s why we had to get out of this tournament this early,” the skipper put the blame squarely on batters.
Hasaranga, however, didn’t want to read too much into social media comments where there has been an outpouring of emotions by the Sri Lankans cricket fans.
“As a player, we should not look at social media posts. What’s on social media is (posted) done by a small group of people to make (instigate) other fans angry. (Genuine) Sri Lanka fans are with us even if we lose the matches. We must be very lucky to have such kind of fans in Sri Lanka.” While Sri Lanka arrived in the United States at least 10 days prior to the start of the tournament, Hasaranga felt that there was no similarity between training pitches and match decks.
“We should thank the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) board for bringing us 10 days prior and organising a training camp like that. But I think from the locations that we have practised, the conditions (for matches) are not the same.
“So, we adjusted ourselves as every possible way. Unfortunately, we had our first match in New York and it was not successful. And then we went to Dallas to the next match and we could not adjusted to the pitch there as well. I think as a team and as a captain, we take the full responsibility.” But Hasaranga doesn’t want to hide behind the below-par USA tracks and paper over the dismal performance of his own team.
“Yes you can (put the) blame on pitches and make up stories when you lose a match. But as professional cricketers, we can’t do that. All the other countries are also playing in the same pitches so we have to adjust ourselves to that. We have to admit that. That’s why we come to these tournaments representing a country.
“We should have improved our cricket and not blame others,” he concluded.
