Dhananjaya After Sri Lanka Beat Bangladesh: 'Every Test Like A Knockout In WTC'
Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva emphasised the importance of the WTC after their innings win over Bangladesh, noting the need for points due to their limited Test schedule.
Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva emphasised the importance of the World Test Championship (WTC) after his team decisively defeated Bangladesh by an innings and 78 runs at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC), securing their first win of the current cycle. De Silva highlighted that with Sri Lanka playing fewer Tests than most teams, each match feels like a knockout.
'The WTC is like other World Cups — a lot of matches are like knockouts for us," de Silva said after the victory. 'We've talked about how we win when we make the fewest mistakes, and we need those wins to get those extra points. In the last cycle, we made a few mistakes, and that's what cost us. Hopefully, we can correct that this cycle."
Sri Lanka, scheduled for only a two-match series in this WTC cycle, depends on the 'percentage of points won" system to stay in contention for a top-two finish. De Silva noted how the WTC has shifted his players' mindset.
'It's become a competitive trophy. We've even started thinking about our run rates in light of what's happening. The Championship is a great thing for Test cricket," he said. 'We saw last time how well South Africa did and how they performed well recently, and they deserved to win it. They hadn't won an ICC trophy, and the Test Championship meant a lot to them. As a country, they can value that highly."
Win And Wait For SL
'We only have domestic matches," de Silva said. 'Right now there's a One-day tournament, and after that, there will be a three-day tournament. There's also the National Super League. That's how we'll have to keep our form. Unfortunately, there are no Tests. We've made requests to SLC to play more Tests. I think they are talking about it with other teams. Even if we can play three or four extra Tests, we'll be able to continue the good things we're doing."
De Silva also discussed the team's strategic evolution in the series against Bangladesh. Besides scoring quickly, Sri Lanka's bowlers aimed to build pressure by delivering more maiden overs, a specific focus area for the team.
'Whenever we come into a Test series, we have some key performance indicators," he explained. 'One of the things we analysed this time was that our maiden percentage needed to be higher. So that's what we planned to do. We have to keep some pressure on the opposition in Tests, in order to get some wickets at the other end. I think our bowlers did that very well."
(With inputs from IANS)
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