JOIN USAfter having hit out at the way cricket is run in the country following Sri Lanka’s nine-wicket defeat at the hands of India in Dambulla, team coach Nic Pothas appeared to have mellowed down as he read out a statement, declaring all was well with Sri Lanka cricket here on Wednesday.
Pothas had taken a dig at interference by the SLC officials in team affairs besides indirectly questioning selection policies. He also used the phrase “too many cooks” when asked to pinpoint a reason for team’s continued poor show.
“It should be stated that I am very happy with everything that’s going on within our four walls in that change room and just to clarify things I am very happy with the situation with the Board (SLC) that has been hugely supportive of everything that I do and the players do and they continue to support us. Certainly I have no issues there,” he stated.
Pointing at the transition that Lanka are going through at the moment, Pothas also invoked India to justify the performances.
“In 2014 India were in the same situation. When you get new players and new support staff, it takes time for everyone to get used to each other. I don’t know what the time frames are but all I know is that if we keep doing what we are doing at the moment, you’ll see results pretty soon,” he offered.
Sri Lanka skipper Upul Tharanga promised a better show in the second ODI here on Thursday. “India is one of the best teams in the world today,” he noted. “As a team I have faith in the players that for the second ODI they will come up with a much better performance. We were in a good position at one stage in the first ODI but unfortunately we collapsed but I believe as a team we can do better than that, especially in our batting.”
Lanka understand the importance of winning the second ODI as a win here will bring them a step closer to direct World Cup qualification. A loss means they will be left with the task of winning two of the last three matches to avoid last-minute calculations to make the cut.
“To qualify for the 2019 WC we have to win two matches of the current series. All the players in the squad are aware of it. Our main aim is to win every match,” said Tharanga.