Shape up, Dilshan tells Lanka batsmen

DUBAI (Khaleej Times : McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) - Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan has urged his struggling players to shape up sharp as patience wears thin with some beleaguered batting ahead of the second one-day international (ODI) here on Monday.

Dilshan cut a forlorn figure as he addressed the media following his side’s eight-wicket defeat to Pakistan on Friday evening, when the Lankans could only post a paltry 131 tally.

There’s little doubt then as to what areas of the game Geoff Marsh’s men need to improve upon and the skipper is demanding an immediate reaction as they bid to turnaround a 1-0 deficit in this best-of-five series.

“We’re giving all of the confidence to all of the players to play their natural games, but that hasn’t come through at the moment. That’s the issue,” he explained. “It’s time now and we cannot wait any longer as we haven’t started well in the last three or four series.

“We’ve got another four chances in this series. We cannot wait long. We definitely have to come back strongly on Monday and play better cricket.

“Everyone has to sit down now and just think where they went wrong, correct it as soon as possible and come back strongly on Monday.”

One player who looks relatively assured of his batting place at the moment nonetheless is Dinesh Chandimal, 21, who topscored with 28 in their comprehensive defeat last weekend.

“Dinesh Chandimal is still young at 21 and I want to fix him in the middle between ‘Sanga’ (Kumar Sangakkara), at number three, and Mahela (Jayawardene), at number five,” Dilshan explained. “Chandimal can then bat around these two experienced guys we’ve got in the team and that’s the main reason for that combination, with Chandimal batting at number four.

“We’re giving opportunities for youngsters. Chandimal batted really well at the start, but -- unfortunately -- he got out after that.

“We have a few good young players, but we cannot wait long and they have to put their hands up. “That applies not just to the young players, but everyone -- including myself. All of the batting unit have to put their hands up and do a job.

“That’s what we expect of everyone at the moment -- just do a job for the Sri Lanka team and that’s it.”

The 35-year-old right-hander also refuted claims that an ongoing dispute over player payments since this year’s World Cup was in any way proving a distraction in the circumstances. “The motivation is there. Everyone has trained, and been preparing, really well,” he added. “I don’t think there are any management issues in there.

“We’re here together as a team, but we have to do everything out in the middle. When we cross the line, we have to play our brand of cricket at 100%. “They (the fans) are still waiting for our brand of cricket and now’s the time to put on a better show on Monday.”

Sri Lanka will assess the fitness of Mahela Jayawardene, who complained of a sore knee following Friday’s reverse, before finalising their batting line-up tomorrow.