Sri Lanka skipper Shanaka wants Govt to stop negativity against players

Fitness and form were not the only areas in which Sri Lanka failed, said captain Dasun Shanaka, as he also blamed the “negative environment created outside” for his team’s ouster from the T20 World Cup and oddly urged the government to protect the players from criticism. Shanaka apologised to his country for the disappointing ouster from the Super Eight stage after a 61-run loss to New Zealand following a 51-run defeat at the hands of England. However, he was not too happy with the criticism that his players were facing due to underwhelming performances.

“As players, it’s very hard for us to control the outside noise. So, most of the time, we mainly hear negative stuff, so no matter how positive we are as players, there is a negative environment created from the outside,” he said after the loss to New Zealand here on Wednesday. “So that’s a disadvantage for cricket in Sri Lanka, we only have this game, and I don’t think this could be saved. So, why is the negativity being spread like this? Okay, we lost a World Cup, we know the reasons. We all have concerns.

“So, I think we’ll play and go, but at least for the players coming up next, if the government could interfere and stop those, I believe that will be a great help for better mental health,” he added in an unprecedented request. In his apology to the country, Shanaka said his team just could not deliver in the Super Eights after a fairly good group campaign in which the co-hosts ousted Australia.

“We feel very sorry about this. The England match was also a match that we could have won... If we were more sensible, we could have won that. This match was a one-sided game. For the spectators, I don’t have anything to say; we have not given them any win that they can be happy about,” Shanaka said. Elaborating on the reasons for the team’s downward spiral after the group stage, he said the wickets here didn’t behave the way he expected.

“Before the start of the tournament, I also mentioned that I expected the wickets to be good. So honestly, we are very sorry for what happened. No one goes out there to fail; everyone goes with the intention of playing well and winning for the team,” he asserted. “Unfortunately, we don’t always get the conditions we want; sometimes we lose games from the things that we don’t even think of, from the small changes. So, we are so sorry about that; as players, we feel very sad about it,” Shanaka said.

Half a dozen injuries: Shanaka also conceded that the fitness of Sri Lankan players was not up to the mark and the list of injuries also kept getting longer as the tournament progressed. The team lost premier pacer Matheesha Pathirana to a hamstring injury early in the event before all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga also went out due to a similar problem.

“I don’t think the physical fitness is up to the maximum level. I think for this World Cup, by this match, we have about four to five injuries, our best players are out. So, we can clearly see that we have some issues about the physical fitness. “I think when we consider the past few World Cups, Sri Lanka must be on the list with most injured players. Sometimes, I think the other teams are way ahead of us when considering fitness level,” he said.

“I think the fitness should be number one when playing for a country because that’s unnegotiable...Everyone knows how good Wanindu Hasaranga and he is a key player, and also the importance of Matheesha Pathirana , and then Eshan Malinga. When we don’t have these players, (but) I’m not saying that it’s an excuse.”

Future uncertain: Shanaka is not certain about retaining captaincy after the dismal Super Eight outing but said Sri Lanka needs to set long-term goals going into a mega-event. “As a captain, I have no idea how long I will be the captain, it’s decided by the selectors, by Sri Lanka Cricket. But I’m happy that I had this opportunity for this long time. “I had many good decisions, and also, I have made mistakes as well. Actually, I’m happy that I could play a World Cup as a captain,” he said.