Transition period cannot be cited as the reason for lacklustre performance by Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal

Veteran Sri Lankan wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Chandimal who has been on the international circuit for the last 7 years expressed his disappointment after the island nation lost the opening ODI to Bangladesh at Dambulla. Chandimal said that transition period cannot be cited as a reason anymore and they need to pull up their socks and start winning games for their team on a consistent basis.

The hosts gave away as many as 109 runs in the final 10 overs as the visitors finished on a mammoth score of 324 after their allotted 50 overs. The islanders were never in the game and losing wickets at crucial junctures of the game hurt them badly as they kept sliding towards a huge defeat. Chandimal tried hard with a valiant effort but it wasn’t enough for the hosts as they were handed a 90 run loss. This was also their 6th consecutive ODI loss after getting whitewashed at the hands of the Proteas.

“You can’t say every time that this is our transition period. We need to put our hands up and come up with results. All players should take responsibility for the opportunities they get. The players are all working hard, and hopefully, we’ll be able to see the results soon.

“If we had restricted them for 280 we could have done something with the bat, but we were sloppy in the field. We do a lot of fielding training, but there’s pressure when we come into the game. There are several young players and there could be mistakes. But we are doing our training well and we are looking forward to sharpening up our fielding for the next two games,” Chandimal was quoted as saying by ESPN Cricinfo

“Had we batted first after winning the toss and things backfired, that could have been also wrong. It was a team decision to bat second. We saw that there was dew there over last two days and we wanted to make most of it. But the dew didn’t come into play today, and things didn’t go our way.

“When I first came into the side, we beat them easily. But if you take the new Bangladesh, they have seven to eight players who have been playing international cricket, and since that group has been playing together, they have a lot of experience,” he further added.

Sri Lanka is currently ranked 6th in the ICC ODI Rankings for teams after their horrendous performances off late and might slip down to 7th if they suffer a 3-0 whitewash.