SL vs IND | Bowlers showed great maturity to restrict India after that start, admits Dasun Shanaka

Since 2012, Sri Lanka have a negative streak going on against India at home, where they have lost all their ODI games, leading into this series. While they couldn’t quite wrap the second ODI, thanks to Deepak Chahar’s heroics, they returned to wreck the Indian team in the third ODI to deny the visitors a whitewash and break the losing streak against India at home.

In the post-match presentation, winning skipper Dasun Shanaka admitted that the bowlers showed great maturity to restrict India after the visitors got off to a great start. At 102/2, the visitors had a great chance of posting a total of well above the 300 mark. However, post the rain interruption, the spin twins Praveen Jayawickrama and Akila Dananjaya restricted India to just 225. 

“Congrats to India for winning the series. It was a very good series throughout and I am really happy with how we played. The bowlers showed maturity, that's what I expect from the youngsters. I hope they will continue this in the future tours as well,” Shanaka admitted.

While Sri Lanka got off to a blistering start, the middle-order showed vulnerability against Rahul Chahar, to reopen familiar wounds. However, Avishka Fernando’s continued aggression with contributions from Charith Asalanka and Ramesh Mendis helped the hosts to a stunning victory. Shanaka insisted that the team would definitely improve in the future and learn to play a consistent brand of cricket.   

“When you play international cricket for long, the guys will improve and play consistently. It is a very big win for the fans. We have been waiting for very long and have won after very long against India at home. I want to thank all my players and the support staff. Actually I enjoy captaining.”