Sri Lanka bowling coach Rumesh Ratnayake emphasizes on playing smart cricket

There’s a certain spring in the steps of the Sri Lankan team with the recent wins under their belt. Cricket in the island nation witnessed a massive turnaround since the home series against India last year.

Sri Lanka, in all formats of the game, surprised several teams at their den apart from winning few home series. Even in the opening game of the Nidahas Triseries, hosts defeated limited overs giants to top the table.

Bowling coach Rumesh Ratnayake and Chandika Hathurusinga, ahead of the clash against Bangladesh, stressed the importance of playing smart cricket.

“As I always say, the talent was aplenty on our team. It’s just that the mindset of the boys – and I think coach Hathu has come in taken maximum part in that. I would say that he has changed their mindset by letting them do the things on their own,” addressed Rumesh Ratnayake to the journalist at Premadasa.

Ratnayake was all praises for their latest recruitment, Chandika Hathurasingha, who worked with the Bangladesh team previously.

“It’s all about smart options. I think he lets people take smart options and even if they fail, he will say ‘well, that was good enough, let’s try again next time’,” mentioned Ratnayake according to Cricbuzz.

Still room for improvement in bowling department: Ratnayake

The bowling coach of Lankans revealed the role Hathurusingha plays in the team. According to Ratnayake, ‘Hathu’ provides ample freedom to players in the Lankan squad.

“Smart cricket is all about adapting to in-game situations quickly. What Hathu has done since he came in is that he has given the players the freedom to make those decisions. We are talking about taking the smart options and evaluate those smart options at the end of the day,”  added the former Sri Lankan international.

However, the 54-year-old suggested that their bowling still is the weak department as they leaked too many runs in the opener at Colombo.

“We still need to look at our bowling. I personally thought we gave 15 runs too many. We have scrutinized that a little bit and we’ve also looked at instances when an Indian bowler went off for a big over, how well did they come back as bowlers. There’s a lot to learn,” concluded Rumesh Ratnayake.