• Batting wise, we’ve got a lot of learning to take with us for the next game: Nawaz
• Second T20I at Pune today

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

The first T20I played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai which heralded the New Year for Sri Lanka and India, did not augur well for the visitors as they lost the contest, which they could have won, by a mere two runs, to hand to the host a 1-0 advantage in the three-match series.

At one time it looked like Sri Lanka were out of the contest when they lost the first five wickets for 68 runs chasing a target of 163, but some late order resistance inspired by the captain Dasun Shanaka saw Sri Lanka come within touching distance of pulling off a win. That they eventually fell agonizingly short being dismissed for 160 off the final ball of the match was blamed on the batsmen by Sri Lanka assistant coach Naveed Nawaz, who is also the team’s batting coach.

“I thought that we should have got a better contribution from our top order batsmen because the latter batsmen brought the game to an even contest with a fine comeback. Unfortunately, we could not finish the match in our favour,” said Nawaz at the post-match press conference.

“We’ll have to rectify the mistakes we made in this match and bring forward a much better performance in the next game than we displayed today. When you play against a team like India we know where they stand. If we bring all our resources together and play only, we will be able to win.”

“The par score on this ground is around 170-180, although we started with a shocker, I think we came back well as a bowling unit and restricted India to 162 which is a good effort. The score was gettable and the batting unit needed to take responsibility that they needed to get this score.

“Wanindu (Hasaranga) and Dasun (Shanaka) we thought that we needed a partnership from them to make the game a little bit longer. When Wanindu got out and then Dasun, it left Chamika (Karunaratne) on his own to do the job. From where we were, hats off to those three for making it a close game and bringing the game that far.”

Nawaz said that it was a pretty challenging task to find the right balance between attack and defence in T20 cricket.

“It’s all about gaining momentum in T20 cricket and also finding the balance of when to attack and when to knock the singles off,” explained Nawaz. “It’s a bit challenging sometimes when players tend to waste a lot of balls, too many dot balls and find themselves in a situation where you are far behind the asking rate. The easiest way to play T20 cricket is to be positive, to play aggressive cricket and whenever the opportunity arises to go for it.”

“Whenever there is a low score most of the time there is a reason behind it, the conditions of the ground or the condition of the wicket. The batsman will have that challenge to counter it and play accordingly. So it’s a pretty challenging task to find that right balance between attack and being defensive. If you are positive and aggressive I am sure the results are going to be on our side more often than not.”

Talking of the positives Sri Lanka took from the first T20I, Nawaz said, “There are so many positives to take back, even the bowling of the youngsters who are playing in the formative years of their careers this experience will go a long way for them. I believe that they will learn with every game and move forward. They will only get better. Batting wise also we’ve got a lot of learning to take with us for the next game”.

The second T20I will take place at Pune today.

SLC to introduce new fitness protocols to counter injuries