Hashan urges Youth batsmen to be more proactive after an exciting series against Pakistan
After a seesaw battle between bat and ball, the Pakistan Under-19s were able to hold their nerve to emerge victorious in a nail-biting Youth One Day International (YODI) series against Sri Lanka. (3-2)
Despite the series loss against Pakistan, the head coach Hashan Tillakaratne believes that his team will bounce back for the Asia Cup. However he emphasised the fact that there are some areas to work on as they prepare for the tournament.
“It’s a little disappointing but this is the only opportunity we had to evaluate all the players before the Asia Cup. There are some loose ends we have spoken about and we will improve those before the Asia Cup” He said during an interview with the Sunday Times.
Throughout the series the Sri Lankan batsmen were not consistent. Hashan urged the batsmen to play fearless cricket and furthermore he went on to say that players need to adjust their batting techniques according to the match situation.
“Well! All the batsmen are equally talented. Everyone is different to each other. We need to improve their strengths and also the weaknesses such as rotating the strike, back foot play, sweeping, playing against the spin and with the spin. Also an area that needs to be improved is the technical and tactical aspects of their game as well as mental fitness” A thoughtful Tillakaratne said.
Tillakaratne rued the fact that his team was not able to win the decisive moments throughout the series, and he was concerned about the standard of fielding and highlighted it as one of the turning points of the series.
“We failed in all three departments. There were some good performances but they were a little patchy. We were a little inconsistent but we can improve that.” he added.
On the other hand there were some positives that the Lankans can capitalise on and move forward. Kamil Mishara scored 242 at an average of 48.4. The coach did not forget to mention about the standout performers who may represent the National team in the near future.
“There were players who played exceptionally well during the series, Kamil Mishara, Ravindu Rashantha, Avishka Tharindu. From the bowlers Dilshan Madushka was outstanding. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has already evaluated him and pushed him to the next step.”
There were two captains that led the team during the course of the series. According to Hashan they wanted to test out another captain. As there are some important tours, they wanted to give some experience to Kamil Mishara as well, as it is important to manage Nipun Dananjaya’s workload with the World Cup on the horizon.
“Well! We wanted to try out another captain and see how he fares. Both these players are good captains and have different ideas which were interesting to see. Kamil Mishara captained his first game while Nipun is our official captain”.
He also acknowledged the support given by the SLC to give the necessary exposure at the International level as they prepare for the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa in 2020.
“Up to now SLC has been very helpful in organising as many tours as needed. We are getting the exposure. We need to get better,” he concluded.