Nagpur Test: Thilan Samaraweera is now a worried coach!
After head coach Nic Pothas expressed his disappointment over Sri Lanka's toothless batting performance that saw them capitulate to spinners on a Nagpur pitch that offered negligible turn on Day One, batting coach Thilan Samaraweera acknowledged the problem. "This group in last two years hasn't batted well against spin. I have observed that there is a lot of work for us to do in the future," he said.
Sri Lankan bowler Gahiru Gamage celebrates the wicket of Indian batsman K.L. Rahul during the 2nd cricket test match in Nagpur on Friday. Pic/PTI
Traditionally presumed to be good players of spin, the current crop of Sri Lankan batsmen have not shown the same proficiency over a period of time. In the two previous series' against India alone, 72 of the 120 Sri Lankan wickets fell to spin. Samaraweera sought the example of his own playing days, when the 2005 tour of India served as a watershed moment that helped him become a better player of spin bowling. "I struggled with Anil and Harbhajan in 2005 and before that, I had thought that I was a good player of spin. But I worked hard from 2006. I improved a lot. After the Indian series we have two or three weeks before Bangladesh. Then we have Independence Cup and then we have two months break and that's the time to address the issue. Hard to do things when you are on tour. Big challenge over the next three days with rough and uneven bounce come to play," he said.
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