‘No hiding from it’ – Sri Lanka want severe enchancment, particularly within the area
In the times since their loss in Galle, Sri Lanka have been by means of an trustworthy appraisal by means of their many flaws within the first Test.
This is in line with their coach Chris Silverwood, who highlighted fielding and bowling as explicit areas for enchancment.
But they should enhance in “all three departments”, he mentioned. After the loss in Galle, captain Dimuth Karunaratne had additionally highlighted the dual failures of Sri Lanka’s high order, after that they had been 54 for 4 within the first innings, and 99 for 4 within the second.
“There are sure areas that we have to enhance on, fielding being one of them,” Silverwood mentioned someday earlier than the second Test, in Colombo (SSC). Sri Lanka missed a minimum of three clear-cut possibilities within the first Test. “There’s no hiding from it – we need to improve our fielding. There’s progression in that department. We analysed the last Test match, and if we’re honest, I think we fell short in all three departments.
“I feel it is a part of studying as a bunch, we now have to be trustworthy with ourselves and mirror inwards. Without pointing fingers out we now have to be trustworthy with ourselves.”
Sri Lanka have serious ambitions of playing the next final of the World Test Championship (WTC), and a loss in Galle is about as poor a start to the new WTC cycle as could have been hoped for. Despite that rough start, the desire to make a mark on the WTC remains, Silverwood said.
“The motivation is there. The gamers understand how necessary it’s to be choosing up WTC factors. And they understand how necessary it’s to be successful at residence as effectively. The delight is there to try this. The motivation’s there. We have to repeatedly try this on a regular basis.
“The determination is there that this game they’ll come out harder. I want to see them come out of their shells and express themselves and have the confidence to show how good they are.”
On the batting entrance, Sri Lanka must take care of Pakistan’s seamers – Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah – once more. In the primary Test, they had been excellent within the first session of the match, and returned continuously with the outdated ball to ship testing spells of reverse-swing.
“First of all, we have to accept that the two fast bowlers Pakistan have are very good,” Silverwood mentioned. “They are very good at their craft and have good pace. And they don’t give many runs away. The one thing they can do is hammer a length hard, skilfully, time and time again. And their bouncers are accurate. We have to give them a lot of credit for the way they operate. I think they make life difficult for any batting line-up anywhere in the world.”
“We have to be ultra-positive. I’m not saying we go out to slog or anything like that. We have to make sure our footwork is positive and our decision-making is strong. And that we find a way of combating these guys.”