Sri Lanka go back to the drawing board
Sri Lanka cricket board will have a lot of soulsearching to do in the coming days following their side’s worst batting performance that saw them crash out of the Unimoni Asia Cup 2018 early.
Their poor showing is a huge wake-up call for the Sri Lankans with the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales lurking. They also have a home series against England lined up starting October 10.
Sri Lanka’s 91-run loss to Afghanistan, that put them on the next flight home, was their first defeat in ODIS against this opposition. The five-time Asian champions had also lost to Bangladesh in an identical batting collapse.
So humiliating have been the defeats that a section of the Lankan media covering the match, didn’t bother to attend skipper Angelo Mathews post-match news briefing.
Sri Lankan newspapers have also come down hard on their team and have lambasted them.
Skipper in the spotlight
“We all take responsibility because it was unacceptable. We need to find solutions. We are 10 months away from the World Cup and losing like this is extremely embarrassing to me and the entire team to let the nation down,” said a dejected-looking Mathews, whose leadership skills will also be under scrutiny in the coming days.
“What was surprising was to see the confidence level of the batters which had clearly touched rock bottom. There was no clear game plan on how to approach a modest total. And when you have lost 30 matches out from 42 outings since January 2017 and won just 10, no quick fix can help. Somebody will have to step in, cast the nets wider in search of a permanent remedy — be it giving some of the old heads the boot.”