Batsmen lacked application, says Atapattu
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s batting coach Marvan Atapattu has blamed a lack of application from the Sri Lanka batsmen for the team’s poor performance in the ongoing ODI series against Australia.
Australia took an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series after they beat the hosts by five wickets in the fourth One-day International (ODI) in Colombo on August 19.
“The batting is pretty disappointing, no doubt about it,” Atapattu said.
“It’s more to do with application [rather] than anything else. We know the potential that we have, but we have not gone all the way to show what we are made of.
“It’s consistency in application that we lack. Apart from one or two batsmen, it has nothing to do with technique or anything like that. It’s more to do with application.”
Sri Lanka have failed to bat out their 50 overs in the three games they have lost and were bowled out for just 132 on Sunday, which disappointed Atapattu.
“Being ranked No. 2 we should be doing much more than what we have. It is disappointing to see the personnel in the team and their performances. We look at the team and say this is one of the best batting line-ups in the world; although we are playing against the No. 1 ODI team, we as a batting unit believe that we are much more capable than this.”
Upul Tharanga, the leading run scorer for Sri Lanka in the series so far, is the only top-order batsman for the hosts to average above 40. Captain Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene have all struggled for consistency, with none of them averaging above 37.
“The problem we have is that it is only the same two or three batsmen who are always contributing. The pressure on these batsmen is more. What we are trying to do is get the rest of the batsmen to also contribute,” he said.
Australia took an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series after they beat the hosts by five wickets in the fourth One-day International (ODI) in Colombo on August 19.
“The batting is pretty disappointing, no doubt about it,” Atapattu said.
“It’s more to do with application [rather] than anything else. We know the potential that we have, but we have not gone all the way to show what we are made of.
“It’s consistency in application that we lack. Apart from one or two batsmen, it has nothing to do with technique or anything like that. It’s more to do with application.”
Sri Lanka have failed to bat out their 50 overs in the three games they have lost and were bowled out for just 132 on Sunday, which disappointed Atapattu.
“Being ranked No. 2 we should be doing much more than what we have. It is disappointing to see the personnel in the team and their performances. We look at the team and say this is one of the best batting line-ups in the world; although we are playing against the No. 1 ODI team, we as a batting unit believe that we are much more capable than this.”
Upul Tharanga, the leading run scorer for Sri Lanka in the series so far, is the only top-order batsman for the hosts to average above 40. Captain Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene have all struggled for consistency, with none of them averaging above 37.
“The problem we have is that it is only the same two or three batsmen who are always contributing. The pressure on these batsmen is more. What we are trying to do is get the rest of the batsmen to also contribute,” he said.
Published by Unknown
on 21:39.
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