PAK vs SL | It was not the weakest team, we chose the best team, asserts Rumesh Ratnayake
After inflicting series white-wash on Pakistan, Sri Lanka coach Rumesh Ratnayake has stated that they had picked the best team for the final T20I when they decided to make five changes. He also credited the chief selector Asantha de Mel for playing five players who hadn't been part of the side.
All hell broke loose when Sri Lanka made sweeping changes to the team for the final T20I in Lahore despite the team had already taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. However, every perception had been quashed as debutant Oshada Fernando produced an innings of spectacular magnificence before Wanindu Hasaranga's three wickets in his second successive match helped Sri Lanka extend their new-Pakistan reputation further. It was crazy in every way possible. In the wake of the historic series win, Sri Lanka coach Rumesh Ratnayake said that they had picked the best team for the last game of the tour.
"It was not the weakest team. We chose the best team. In Sri Lanka, we have about 30-40 good players, so whichever we chose we were most confident of. We believed they could do something at the highest level. We emphasised being fearless and having that belief and also the confidence to take good decisions. Good decisions give you the chance of winning a match. They were fearless and they executed our game plans brilliantly," Ratnayake was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
"This performance will bring about a huge effect on the spectators, on our supporters, and on the players themselves. Our school system is a very good system. And those players who are watching, the future players will certainly take heart from this and take courage and you'll see a huge impetus in the growth of the game in the future."
Although Sri Lanka have been able to create quite a few upsets in the ongoing year - nothing being better than the white-wash in South Africa earlier this year - they have been left wanting when it comes to their consistency. Sure enough, they will have their task cut out against Australia when they travel to the Southern Hemisphere later this month. Ratnayake believes that the next challenge will be to find the consistency.
"What we were looking for is consistency. We won here, but as a coach what I'd like to see is do we have consistency in the future. This is just T20, there are two other formats, and we should not be over-awed by this. But certainly, we need to take a leaf from this and that should help us take it to another level in all aspects of the game," he pointed out.
"Some of them [the players] we wouldn't have seen if Asantha de Mel [chairman of selectors] hadn't taken the bold decision of playing the five players who hadn't been part of the side today. We weren't even sure what combinations we would play, but you saw Oshada Fernando and Bhanuka Rajapaksa in this series because of that."