Last two years, we have struggled against spin, rues Samaraweera
Day 1 of the second India v Sri Lanka Test in Nagpur didn’t go the visiting side’s way, as it was skittled out for 205. Day 2 brought little solace, as at stumps on Saturday (November 25), Sri Lanka found itself 107 runs behind, having seen the back of only two Indian batsmen and with many shortcomings exposed.
A disappointed Thilan Samaraweera, the batting coach, couldn’t sugar-coat the team’s plight: “We are behind the game at the moment,” he said.
Samaraweera blamed a poor batting performance on Friday for the situation. “(It’s) disappointing that we won the toss, (got a) classic pitch, no seam movement, no spin, and we didn’t bat well. We have so many soft dismissals,” he rued. And with the rough and uneven bounce set to come into play over the next three days, it would only get more challenging for the islanders, he admitted.
A “major concern” was how Sri Lanka struggled against spin. R Ashwin, the off-spinner, and Ravindra Jadeja, the left-arm spinner, shared seven wickets and had 11 maidens in the combined 49.1 overs they sent down on Friday – making up for their lack of returns on an Eden Gardens green-top in the series opener.
“In 2005, I struggled with Anil (Kumble) and Harbhajan (Singh) and before that I had thought that I was a good player of spin,” said Samaraweera, who averaged 48.76 from 81 Tests for Sri Lanka. “But I worked hard from thereon; 2006 onwards, I improved a lot.
“This group, in the last two years, hasn’t batted well against spin. I have observed that. (There’s) a lot of work for us to do in the future … traditionally we have been good players of spin bowling, but last two years we have struggled.”
According to Samaraweera, Sri Lanka can take a few lessons from the home side. M Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara, on their way to centuries, were circumspect against the pacers, and went after the spinners. Dilruwan Perera, the off-spinner, came in for particular punishment, going for 117 in 21 overs.
“When the field is up they will attack and when the field is spread they will grind. That’s the way to play spin bowling. They batted really well. Good Test cricket batting. They still managed to score over three runs an over and we can learn a lot,” he said.
Samaraweera, who in early November was named batting coach of the side keeping the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 in mind, warned that it would take a while for the team to address the inconsistencies. “I can’t give a time frame when we can rectify. I need about four-five months to identify things. After the Indian series, we have two or three weeks before Bangladesh,” he said. “Then we have the Independence Cup and then we have a two-month break. That’s the time to address the issue. It’s hard to do things when you are on tour.”
Having said that, there was still a series to fight for, and Samaraweera urged the batsmen to regroup. “When you are behind, against the world’s (top) bowlers, you have to play your A game.”
