Pothas backs Sri Lanka to bounce back in “game of chess”
Sri Lanka had a fairly forgettable day one of the second Test against India on Thursday (August 3), but Nic Pothas refused to sing the disappointment song despite the visiting side stacking up 344 for 3 by close of play.
“I am never disappointed in my team,” said the interim coach. “We are a young team and we take a lot of positives. We are playing the No. 1-ranked team in the world. It’s how you execute and keep coming back in the next few months and the next few years, and that’s what is going to make this team even better.”
Sri Lanka had India in a spot at 133 for 3 despite losing the toss when the script started to go awry, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane associating in an unfinished 211-run stand for the fourth wicket. “Rahane came and played very well. He was very positive, which is what you expect. From that point onwards, we didn’t perhaps execute as well as we had done up to that point. We just released the pressure a little bit. That was the turning session. India got momentum back. But this is day one and it’s Test match cricket. It’s about how you bounce back.
“We were probably a fraction short on that wicket. The wicket is very slow and once the ball becomes soft, you don’t have many weapons as compared to a harder ball,” he went on. “We don’t have to go with the TV and look at wagon-wheels and say that. We know Pujara scores on the leg side. That’s what he has done all his career. We were a little bit guilty of not getting the ball into other areas and bowling to his strengths. But as I said that’s Test match cricket and that’s why he is a quality cricketer.”
Pothas conceded that the Indians had thrown Sri Lanka’s spinners off kilter with their positive approach and decisive footwork. “We just finished playing Zimbabwe and the plan they came up with is quite different from what the Indians came up with against spin,” observed Pothas, who took over from Graham Ford after the Champions Trophy. “The strength of the players is how well they adapt. Our guys have done it very well. The Indians have played well too. It’s like a game of chess. They make a move and then we make a move. The difference is that you don’t get much time to make that move.”
On a reasonably flat track in Galle during the first Test, Sri Lanka was dismissed for 291 and 245, and Pothas finally admitted that that hadn’t been the most exhilarating batting display by his team. “We are very, very honest in our change room,” he insisted. “We sat together as a group and the batters themselves said that they were disappointed. The length of time we exerted pressure on the Indian bowlers, that’s something that all the teams in the world want to do. That’s something that we want to improve on. When a team makes 600 and (240 for) 3 wickets down declared, you would expect that. We are a very close family in that change room and the discussions are very honest.”
Nuwan Pradeep, the only paceman in the Sri Lankan XI, limped off the park after sending down just four deliveries with the second new ball. It left Sri Lanka not just a bowler short with the second cherry having been requisitioned, it also deprived it of the services of the man who took 6 for 132 in the Indian first innings in Galle. Pothas said Sri Lanka would know more about the nature of Pradeep’s injury only in the morning. “The physio said that he is having a bit of muscle tightness. He is in treatment now. Tomorrow morning, we will get a proper assessment. I don’t know, it’s too early to tell if he will take the field tomorrow or not.”