A heavy defeat either makes or breaks a team, and it has certainly served the former purpose for Sri Lanka as they left behind their dismal record to bounce back in style against Pakistan. Sri Lanka won the second Test by 68 runs in the second Test on Tuesday (October 10) to seal the series 2-0 and inflict the first series defeat on the hosts at the UAE.
Sri Lanka had entered the series on the back of nine straight defeats across formats including the 3-0 whitewash in Tests at the hands of India that too at home. However, instead of being getting demotivated from the heavy thrashing, the Islanders, according to their skipper Dinesh Chandimal tightened up. An ecstatic Chandimal revealed how his teammates worked hard to bounce back from the battering before expressing hide delight over the series win.
“India beat us in all games and that toughened the team. We had lot of things to learn from that series. After that series our attitude changed. We started practices on the 18th last month and everyone put their heart and soul during practices. The management and the selectors have backed us and it helped to build our confidence moving forward,” Chandimal told journalists.
“We are over the moon to win the series,” he added.
Sri Lanka would have wrapped up the game early when they reduced Pakistan to 52 for five on the fourth day while defending 317. However, Sarfraz Ahmed and Asad Shafiq quashed the Islanders’ hope of making further inroads by sharing an unbeaten partnership of 146 runs. Chandimal rued the arrival of the dew in the final session of the penultimate day and was delighted with the way his team fought back on the final day, taking the last five wickets for just 23 runs to wrap up the game and the series.
“It was tough last night for our spinners. We didn’t expect the dew to arrive, but it was there. But we still had 119 to defend when the day began and we knew in the afternoon session the ball will grip. Happy with the way we fought back.”
“When you have two quality spinners like Rangana Herath and Dilruwan Perera on the fifth day wicket, as the captain you know they will deliver,” Chandimal added. “They are very experienced and they had plans for each batsmen and we executed those plans well.”
Chandimal further spoke about the turbulent time he and the team was going through before the just-concluded series and also hoped to recreate the environment in the team that he found when he made his debut.
“It’s been tough for both the team and for me personally. But there was lot of support from the selectors and the team management. Very pleased that we played some good cricket under trying conditions and pulled off a series win,” noted Chandimal.
“When I walked into the team several years ago, there was a team culture which was really good. We need to recreate that environment again. We need to play with passion with which we played in the past. What I look forward from the players is commitment, attitude and discipline and once we start showing that things will fall in line,” he concluded.