"A lot of matches are like knockouts for us...": SL skipper Dhananjaya rues lack of international red-ball cricket

India Gazette

8 hours ago

Colombo [Sri Lanka], June 28 (ANI): After their side's series win, which marked the new ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 cycle, Sri Lankan skipper Dhananjaya de Silva said that the championship has become more competitive and with less Tests under their belt, a lot of matches become a 'knockout' fixture for them.
Sri Lanka started their WTC 2025-27 campaign with a 1-0 win over Bangladesh.
SL will be playing only a two-match series throughout their cycle, as the schedule stands right now. The important statistic in WTC is 'percentage of points won', which means that teams that play far fewer games than others can still finish in the top two. But it is important for them to win a lot of games and not miss a step.
After the win, Silva stated, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo, 'The WTC is like other World Cups- a lot of matches are like knockouts for us. We have 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 is what cost us. Hopefully, we can correct that this cycle.'
'It is become a competitive trophy. Even, we have started thinking about our run rates in light of what's happening. The Championship is a great thing for Test cricket,' he added.
During the last cycle, SL was in contention for the final till the late stage, but finished sixth with five wins and eight losses. They played far fewer Tests as compared to the 'Big Three', England (22), India and Australia (19 each).
Sri Lanka is not scheduled to play Tests till May next year, but they face the task of keeping their red-ball game on point in these times without proper international Test match cricket. In this situation, the team has requested Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) for more Tests.
'We only have domestic matches. Right now, there is 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 will have to keep our form. Unfortunately, there are no Tests,' Silva said.
'We have made requests to the 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 will be able to continue the good things we are doing,' he added.
Dhananjaya said that in addition to scoring quickly, the team is also focusing on bowling a lot of maidens. During the Colombo Test, they bowled 18 maidens out of a total of 123.5 overs - roughly 15 per cent.
'Whenever we come into a Test series, we have some key performance indicators,' Dhananjaya said. '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 to get some wickets at the other end. I think our bowlers did that very well,' he concluded.
Sri Lanka won the second Test by an innings and 78 runs and wrapped the series 1-0, claiming some valuable points in the World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle on Saturday.
Sri Lanka needed just 28 minutes of the morning session of the fourth day to wrap up the entire series and secure their ninth-innings victory over Bangladesh.
Left-arm ball tweaker Prabath Jayasuriya did the bulk of the damage and returned with figures of 5/56, his 12th five-wicket haul.
Jayasuriya weaved his magic just three deliveries into his first over of the fourth day. Litton Das tried to negate the threat with forward defence but edged it to wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis (14) behind the stumps. He stung Bangladesh again in his next over by having Nayeem Hasan stumped on 5(8).
He completed his five-wicket haul by pouching a return catch to his right from Taijul Islam. Tharindu Ratnayake got into the thick of the action and trapped Ebadot Hossain in front of the stumps in the next over to pull the curtain down on Bangladesh's innings in just 34 deliveries into the morning session.
Jayasuriya spun his best against Bangladesh and found his lost mojo after going wicketless in the first innings and striking once in Galle. In the second innings, a total of nine wickets fell to spin, with Tharindu and captain Dhananjaya de Silva sharing two apiece apart from Jayasuriya's five-for.
Earlier in the Test, Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bat, just as they had done in the series opener in Galle. However, they failed to replicate their previous success and turned out to be pale shadows of their former self. They finished with 247 on the board, and in reply, Sri Lanka notched 458 on the board, courtesy of Pathum Nissanka's flamboyant 158(254), Dinesh Chandimal's resilient 93(153) and Kusal's quick-fire 84(87).
Bangladesh attempted to conjure an inspired performance but fell short in their efforts. Jayasuriya tore through Bangladesh's batting order and forced them to pack on 133 in 44.2 overs, sealing a 1-0 series win for the hosts.
Brief Scores: Bangladesh 247 and 133 (Mushfiqur Rahim 26, Prabath Jayasuriya 5-56) vs Sri Lanka 458 (Pathum Nissanka 158, Dinesh Chandimal 93, Kusal Mendis 84, Taijul Islam 5-131). (ANI)