‘Tosses don’t win matches’

Ravi LADDUWAHETTY

Sri Lanka Cricket captain Tillekeratne Dilshan, late Monday night, conceded that being five times winner of tosses at the just concluded One Day International series against Michael Clarke’s Aussies, was not instrumental in winning the series.

“Tosses did not win matches and we have to admit that our batting was the drawback of the series where the top and the middle order failed due to wrong shot selection, ” Dilshan told the post match news conference at the R Premadasa Stadium late Monday night after losing the ODI series 2-3 to Australia .

When asked how he was going to manage the Test series without seamer Lasith Malinga, who now holds the record for the most number of ODI hat- tricks, Dilshan, while admitting that Malinga was a great experienced wicket taking bowler each time he was given to bowl, said that the team had to make alternative choices in his absence.

“As the captain, I am lucky to have Malinga in the side but, everyone cannot do Malinga’s job. We have to try out new players and get the best within the resources we have under the circumstances,” he said.

Asked why the team was performing better on fast tracks rather than the slower ones, he said that the batsmen were playing their shots in both kinds of wickets and added that all batsmen played the ball well each time it came to the bat.

Commenting about the type of pitches he expect for the Test Series and whether the team could draw the benefit of the wickets, he said that good wickets would help both the batsmen and the bowlers. Asked what he meant by good wickets, he said that those would be the ones where the turning ball came to the bat.

Asked how he sees the overall picture of the ODI series, he said that the bowlers performed well while admitting that Number Five batsman Chamara Silva also was given the opportunity and who proved himself with a score of 63.

He also backed the decision for the inclusion of Rangana Herath instead of Suraj Randiv in the presence of eight batsmen, a ploy that did not work. The provision of opportunities to batsmen to perform consistently was also underscored by the Sri Lankan skipper.

Asked why promising Number three batsman Dinesh Chandimal was dropped in the light of so many non performing players in the past being retained over around two years, Dilshan said that it was done in his best interests leaving him to sort out a technical issue, ably supported by bating coach Marvan Atapattu.“Chandimal is a valuable resource being a young player and we let him sort out his technicalities in his batting without pressurizing him to stay as we saw him being dismissed him in the same manner on five occasions,” Dilshan said.

Asked how he would face the Australians in the Test series having lost both the Test and the ODI series against England in England and the home ODI series against Australia, he said that the chances of good performances in the Tests against Australia were good.