Sanath Jayasuriya says Sri Lanka cricket is still in transition period

Sri Lanka suffered a humiliating loss against Bangladesh in the first match of the 3-ODI series in Dambulla. The hosts put up a dismal show with the ball that allowed the opposition score a massive 324 in the first innings. The batsmen then succumbed to the scoreboard pressure and were bundled out for 234 conceding a defeat by 90 runs.

Sanath Jayasuriya, the former Sri Lankan opener and the current chairman of selectors believed the team is going through the transition phase where they don’t have a settled lineup and a lot of youngsters are coming in the team and thus, such losses are bound to happen.

“We are in Sri Lanka cricket’s trial session period. We are trying out youngsters for the last seven-eight months after all our senior cricketers retired. So it will be a little up and down,” he was quoted as saying by Daily Star.

When asked about the areas the team fell short in and where the difference existed between the two teams, he said, “The Bangladeshis are getting runs on the board. We are not, so we need to get runs on the board; then there will be no difference. We need to field well and we need to bowl well.”

His views came after the current Sri Lankan batsman Dinesh Chandimal after the defeat in the first ODI had said that they cannot hide behind the excuse of the ‘transition phase’ anymore. They have been using the term for the last two years and it’s time they get on with it.

Their team was heavily dependent on the former greats Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan. But since the retirement of these three big guns, the team has been struggling to find players to fill in for them. They have tried several combinations but just don’t seem to settle for one and hence the number of losses doesn’t come down.