Playing India often has made us better: Pothas

Bad light on the fifth and final day of the Kolkata Test helped Sri Lanka come out unscathed as the match ended in a tense draw, but Nic Pothas, the coach, felt the positives far outweighed the negatives for his side.

In a rain-hit game, Sri Lanka had bowled India out for 172 before posting 294 and taking a 122-run lead. India, however, came back strongly on Monday (November 20) and a century from Virat Kohli, the captain, helped it declare at 352 for 8, setting Sri Lanka a target of 231 with little over a session remaining in the game. The visiting side slipped to 75 for 7 before the umpires heeded pleas about light deteriorating.

Pothas argued the light factor was “a question for the umpires” and refused to come down too hard on Sri Lanka for a poor last session, instead praising India, and Kohli in particular, for putting the side through the wringer.

“There was a fantastic innings played by a world-class cricketer. I thought we bowled very well, we fielded very well. The intensity was good. Yes, we had India under some pressure. Virat played a fantastic knock and actually set up a very good game of Test match cricket. I don’t think anything went wrong. I think there was some very good cricket on both sides.”

Pressed about Sri Lanka’s losing seven wickets in 25.2 overs, Pothas conceded there were a few concerns, but felt the experience of playing against India, the No. 1 side in the ICC Test rankings, twice in the space of five months would make it a better side.

“You look at three very good quicks, you’re going to be under pressure, but the more often you play … I think these two series back-to-back against India is going to be the making of the Sri Lankan team in the future, because if you play against quality under pressure you become better,” he offered. “So yes, it’s a concern but I’m more excited about how we fought and came out at the other end. Actually, you’re looking at one day or a couple of hours of cricket, I’m looking at four days of cricket where we played very good cricket.”

When India visited Sri Lanka in July, the home side lost the Tests 3-0, and 9-0 across formats. So Kolkata was a sign of progress, Pothas believed. “We had a series in Sri Lanka where we did not compete at all. We’ve come here, and we’ve actually been very competitive in the first Test match. That’s a huge positive, and it’s a credit to the support staff, the players, the way they got about preparing, about strategising for this game,” he said.

Pothas suggested that the wake-up call for Sri Lanka came immediate after India’s visit, and a 2-0 result in the Tests against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates was proof that they had picked themselves up after the drubbing.

“But we’ve got a long way to go,” he added. “This side is going to be a very good side in the future, there’s no doubt.”