Tillakaratne Dilshan advises Sri Lanka to improve fielding
Dec 24, 2018 at 12:09 PM
After more than one and a half decade of hard work for Sri Lanka, Tillakaratne Dilshan finally bid adieu to the game after the second T20I against Australia at Colombo. The result might not have gone his side’s way, but Dilshan was an elated man after his career as an international cricketer came to an end. The attacking right-hander was the epitome of consistency for the Sri Lankans, as he amassed quite a few records. For any individual over 35 years of age, Dilshan has the most number of ODI runs, with his tally above 4600.
In his final interaction post the second game, the 39-year-old batsman handed out a few tips to his side. Topping the list was the need to work out on the fielding and improving your on field analysis. Dilshan said that with the side being relatively young, improving the fielding was a vital factor.
“Our young players have to work hard to become great fielders,” Dilshan said. “When I came to the team I came in as a wicketkeeper, but Romesh Kaluwitharana was already there. So I gave up the gloves and did a lot of work, by myself, on my fielding.” The youngsters we have are good. They’ve got a good fielding coach from South Africa now. Our fielding is a bit low at the moment, so they need to improve that. I have the confidence that they will – and I’m more than happy to help them with that,” the former opener said.
Dilshan also went on to admit that the Sri Lankan side had a bright future indeed. “Angelo has a lot of young players in the team, and I think it will be easy for him to control it in future,” he added. “Only Chandimal is there as an experienced player. I don’t think he will face too many obstacles. He will just have to develop the young players and move forward. I wish him well in that. If he can pick the right players for the job, based on their talent – that’s what any captain should do. He won’t have many problems then.”