JOIN USRumesh Ratnayake, the former fast bowler who is now Sri Lanka's bowling coach, was enjoying the change in mindset his team has displayed in the recent past. This Sri Lankan team is now more confident and decisive and the chance to solidify those gains against a struggling Bangladesh team was something he welcomed.
"It's how you see it. You see it as them struggling, but I think we have gone and performed well there. Maybe they're going through a little bit of a rough patch, but we take every match seriously," said Ratnayake. "And I'm sure they would want to go and show us that they're something different. But we're well prepared and we're ready for it."
Sri Lanka have been a team in transition for a while, but Ratnayake believed things were settling down."As I always say talent was aplenty in our team, it's just that the mindset of the boys -- and I think coach Hathuru has taken maximum part in that -- I would say he has changed their mindset by letting them do the things on their own," he said.
"It's all about smart options, I think he lets people take smart options, and even if you fail he will say 'well, that was good enough let's try again next time'. For an example, you tell a boy to go and play some shots but if he gets out you can't ask him 'why did you play that shot?' So he's a man of his word. And we have given the players that confidence and if it has shown in the boys that's good, but consistency is what we're looking for in the future."
When asked if his team wanted to be ruthless, putting Bangladesh down before they had a chance to get in the game, Ratnayake was mild. "It's not about being ruthless, it's about playing a smarter game and playing to the best of our abilities. I think people were very fortunate to see some good parts of the game we won against India," he said. "Because it's not about winning one part it was many parts, and your chances are enhanced by making those parts bigger and bigger."