To do well in any form of the game, especially the longer version, a team needs to start on a good note, be it with the cherry or the willow.
To do well in any form of the game, especially the longer version, a team needs to start on a good note, be it with the cherry or the willow. But when it comes to sub-continental conditions, while success with the new ball is a kind of a bonus, it's imperative for the two opening batsmen to set the tone for their team.
And Sri Lanka failed on both the counts miserably in both the innings of the second Test, which they lost yesterday by an innings and 144 runs.
If the blame game has to begin in the Sri Lankan camp, Tharanga Paranavitana will obviously be the first target, despite their bowlers' failure to pick up wickets and restrict runs.
Besides skipper Kumar Sangakkara, Paranavitana, the least experienced of the top five batsmen, is the other Lankan specialist batsmen not to have raised his bat even once in the series. With scores of 35, 38 and 20, the southpaw has failed to make it count after getting his eye in.
Paranavitana, incidentally, has managed to cross the 50-run mark in 16 innings in Test cricket. Though that is a worrying sign for any international batsman, Sangakkara fully-backed the newcomer.
"As an opener, you go against the new ball. If you get out, you get out. You back yourself, you back each other to score runs. I have gone in (to bat) in the first over for a long time. That's the pressure you have got to handle as a player, as a professional. If you are complaining about an opener getting out cheaply, I don't think you should be playing the game," Sangakkara said.
Despite the islanders losing out on yet another opportunity of winning their maiden series in India, they still can register their first victory on Indian soil in Mumbai next week.
Sangakkara stressed on just that, hoping for his boys to bounce back from a "disappointing" defeat. "We have still got a lot to achieve in Mumbai. Whether we can win the series or not, we can still equal the series and finish 1-1. That is a great motivation for us. Disappointed, yes, but that's the way cricket goes. If you don't play well, you are going to lose. You have got to accept that. You have got to accept responsibility but still move on," Sangakkara said.
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