Aravinda says Sri Lanka must learn to fight

Former Test batsman Aravinda de Silva says Sri Lanka's cricketers must learn from Australia and fight until the last to win matches, even though they are a more talented team.

A day after resigning as national chief selector, De Silva on Thursday said Sri Lankan players were probably emotional during last week's one-day World Cup final when they saw the match slip away to India.

"Maybe they were thinking about lost opportunities and became emotional," De Silva said. "This is the difference between an Australian side and ours. They (Australia) don't give up the match until the last ball is bowled.

To fight until the last ball not to give up the game, to try and take wickets even from the last three balls. These are the things that we don't have in our culture."

Sri Lanka's captain, vice-captain and the selection panel for the World Cup all resigned just days the team's six-wicket loss to India in the final.

"We are superior in talent to Australia, but it is the character and the fighting spirit which we must inculcate in our players," De Silva said.

De Silva, considered Sri Lanka's greatest batsman, scored a fighting, unbeaten century to win his country's only World Cup in 1996. He played 93 Test matches and scored 6,361 runs at more than 42 runs per innings including 20 centuries. His 308 one-day internationals brought 9,284 runs.