Sri Lanka’s head coach Sanath Jayasuriya praised his charges for keeping their composure when things were not going their way in the first ODI. The hosts turned the game around against Bangladesh, to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, winning by 77 runs at the R Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday (July 2).
Bangladesh will take on Sri Lanka in the do-or-die match at the same venue on Saturday (July 5) after suffering an embarrassing collapse, as they were reduced to to 105 for 8 from 100 for 1.
“Teams can collapse when chasing totals. The key was the way we put pressure on them. We didn’t panic although they were cruising after the first 15 overs,” Jayasuriya said.
“We tried to keep things tight and when we are showing discipline on the field, there are opportunities created. Milan gave us a sniff with that run out and then the spinners were on the money and then Bangladesh couldn’t handle the pressure,” he said.
Jayasuriya also urged Bangladesh’s team management to keep faith in their cricketers as they are going through a transition period. The ODI series opener marked a new era in Bangladesh cricket considering they were playing an ODI game without their fabulous five – Mashrafe bin Mortaza, Shakib al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah – for the first time in 20 years.
While the visitors have already been playing without the likes of Mortaza, Tamim and Shakib for quite some time, they struggled to fill the void created by Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah in the middle-order.
“Every team goes through that transition period. If you see Sri Lanka also went though that transition and it is a tough one. How we overcome the situation is the important thing. We need to give opportunities to players, trust them and keep backing them,” said Jayasuriya.
“It (collapse) can happen to any team. It has happened to us as well. As long management and captain give confidence that is important. You shouldn’t put pressure on the players,” he said.
However, the former Sri Lanka skipper is not interested in banking on his laurels as they are growing from strength to strength in the ODIs, crediting captain Charith Asalanka for the role in building confidence within the side.
“It was a big challenge from where we were to come up. It was a big process. We had missed out on Champions Trophy. Every opportunity we got, we tried to revive the ODI team.
“Charith Asalanka has played a key role alongside me. What we have done is to give players confidence and get the best out of them. Players worked very hard and that hard work that we put in has enabled us to move forward,” he said. “If we want to move further up, we need to consistently work on other areas like fielding and batting,” he added.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh seem to be opting for plan B to neutralise the Hasaranga threat with additional left-handed batters. Jaker Ali taking on the gloves suggests that the host could opt for a left-handed middle-order batter in Shamim Patowary in place of Litton Das.
Bangladesh opener Tanzid Tamim admitted that they have discussed that the left-handed batters need to take as much strike against Hasaranga as possible.
“We had a long discussion about the last match. The coaches gave us some information. On a wicket like this, those who get set need to finish things off since it’s hard for new batters to adjust. They have top-quality spinners in their side, so those who are set need to bat as long as possible. And against Hasaranga, the left-hand batters need to take as much strike as possible since he is not as effective against left-handers compared to right-handers. So, a few pieces of information like that were given to us, which might help us in the next match,” said Tanzid.
“The way the wicket is behaving, if someone gets set, he needs to play a long innings and take the team home. Me and Shanto bhai, the way we were batting at that time, if we could have stayed for another 10-15 overs, the match would have been much easier. Just one message for the next match: for those who are new to the wicket, it’s a bit difficult at first, but set batters need to bat long, bat deep, and take the game to the end,” he concluded.
