A heavy defeat could make or break any team, and Sri Lanka interim coach Nic Pothas has hinted the Islanders are headed towards the first direction after the battering they received at the hands of India.
Sri Lanka’s dismal year was further compounded by the way they lost against India. After some disastrous results like ODI series loss at home against Zimbabwe and group-stage exit in the Champions Trophy, they lost all the nine games (3 Tests, 5 ODIs, and 1 T20I) against India at home. While the inexperienced Sri Lankan team was not expected to pose a tough challenge for Virat Kohli & Co., their spectacular capitulation took everyone by surprise. They lost two out of three Tests by an innings while failed to cross the 250-run mark in ODIs even one. In fact, their performance was so dismal that it led to protests from fans on a couple of occasions.
But Pothas has said the massive drubbing had brought the players together as they try to get back to winning ways.
“The Indian series despite the heavy defeat brought the boys together. If you take Angelo [Mathews], he was injured while trying to help one of the young blokes (Vishwa Fernando) to get a higher grade in the Yo-Yo test during training. A senior player trying to help a young guy says about the camaraderie we have in the squad,” Pothas told journalists on Thursday (September 21).
Meanwhile, Mathews has been ruled out of the first Test of the upcoming series against Pakistan while his participation in the historic day-night Test is also under doubt.
“Angelo will not be traveling with the squad. He will be in Colombo and will undergo a fitness test before the second Test. If he is good, then he will join the squad in Dubai,” Sri Lanka’s cricket manager, Asanka Gurusinha, said.
Sri Lanka will have a chance to recover from the defeat against India when they take on Pakistan later this month. Meanwhile, the Islanders are set to play the third and last T20I of the tour in Lahore. This will be their first visit to Pakistan since militants attacked their team bus in 2009. But despite the buzz surrounding the visit, Sri Lanka Cricket CEO Ashley de Silva has made it clear that the board will take no chance with the security of the players.
“We have scheduled the last game in Pakistan and will assess the security situation once the Test series is over. Then we will take a call. We will send some security experts to Pakistan as well to assess the situation. That report should come to us two weeks prior to the visit,” de Silva said.
“As per their contractual obligations, all players need to visit. They can discuss with us if they have any issues which so far they have not done,” de Silva added.