Sri Lanka ‘scared’ of Bangladesh spinners

Sri Lanka are unfazed by the defeat to Zimbabwe in their tri-nation series opener as they have the belief on their ability to turn the things around. Even the injury of the regular captain and dependable players of the side Angelo Mathews couldn’t dent their mood.

“It can happen in a series like Tri Nation (12-run defeat to Zimbabwe). We can lose one or two but important thing is to take the positive out from the game,” said Sri Lanka batting coach Thilan Samaweera.

“We lost by a small margin in the first game as we did not play our best game. Still we lost by 12 runs. If we come up and play our best game then we have a better result I believe.”

Definitely Bangladesh would be a tougher opponent than Zimbabwe at their home soil and have been in rampant form, a thing that should worry the Sri Lanka.

Samaweera was undeterred: “Good thing is that we have three more games. We did not play to our potential but we lost by a very close margin. But if play to our potential we can have a good game tomorrow.”

“Hopefully we come up and play a game against Bangladesh.”

Sri Lanka wouldn’t probably get the type of the wicket what they got against Zimbabwe, a track that had offer runs aplenty. Against Bangladesh there is chance that they may get a typical Mirpur wicket, something like slow and uneven. Samaweera perhaps understood it but made it clear that Sri Lanka wants such a wicket in which they played the match against Zimbabwe.

“It was pretty good wicket yesterday also (against Zimbabwe). 570 runs were scored in the game. Hopefully tomorrow also we will have a decent wicket that we always see in Mirpur.” Like Chandika Hathurusingha, Samaweera was also in Bangladesh’s set-up but he left the job of the country’s batting coach 18 months ago.

However Samaweera himself also believes, Chandika’s presence in Lankan dressing room wouldn’t give their any additional advantage against Bangladesh.

“I don’t think there is any advantage because in world cricket I do not thing there are any secrets now. Players are playing franchise cricket and share dressing room. I do not think Bangladesh is playing against Hathurusingha, they are playing against Sri Lanka team. I do not think those matters will matter,” he said.

“We had a bad year last year but now under Chandika we are trying to step up as a different team. We hope we can change the situation this year.”

While Sri Lanka last played against Bangladesh at their own den in 2017, Mustafizur had some success against them even though the pacer wasn’t at this best during that period. He however looked to get his mojo back in the tri-nation series, delivering some deadly spells against Zimbabwe.

Yet Samaweera looked not so concerned for Mustafizur rather he pointed out the Bangladeshi spinners could do the damage.

“We have different plans for the individuals. I can’t say specifically. Bangladesh got top quality spinners who could do the most of the damage.” Samaweera however informed that they would wait for Mathews before the start of the match today.

Sri Lanka scared of Bangladesh spinners

Sri Lanka are unfazed by the defeat to Zimbabwe in their tri-nation series opener as they have the belief on their ability to turn the things around. Even the injury of the regular captain and dependable players of the side Angelo Mathews couldnt dent their mood. It can happen in a series like Tri Nation (12-run defeat to Zimbabwe). We can lose one or two but important thing is to take the positive out from the game, said Sri Lanka batting coach Thilan Samaweera. We lost by a small margin in the first game as we did not play our best game. Still we lost by 12 runs. If we come up and play our best game then we have a better result I believe. Definitely Bangladesh would be a tougher opponent than Zimbabwe at their home soil and have been in rampant form, a thing that should worry the Sri Lanka. Samaweera was undeterred: Good thing is that we have three more games. We did not play to our potential but we lost by a very close margin. But if play to our potential we can have a good game tomorrow. Hopefully we come up and play a game against Bangladesh. Sri Lanka wouldnt probably get the type of the wicket what they got against Zimbabwe, a track that had offer runs aplenty. Against Bangladesh there is chance that they may get a typical Mirpur wicket, something like slow and uneven. Samaweera perhaps understood it but made it clear that Sri Lanka wants such a wicket in which they played the match against Zimbabwe. It was pretty good wicket yesterday also (against Zimbabwe). 570 runs were scored in the game. Hopefully tomorrow also we will have a decent wicket that we always see in Mirpur. Like Chandika Hathurusingha, Samaweera was also in Bangladeshs set-up but he left the job of the countrys batting coach 18 months ago. However Samaweera himself also believes, Chandikas presence in Lankan dressing room wouldnt give their any additional advantage against Bangladesh. I dont think there is any advantage because in world cricket I do not thing there are any secrets now. Players are playing franchise cricket and share dressing room. I do not think Bangladesh is playing against Hathurusingha, they are playing against Sri Lanka team. I do not think those matters will matter, he said. We had a bad year last year but now under Chandika we are trying to step up as a different team. We hope we can change the situation this year. While Sri Lanka last played against Bangladesh at their own den in 2017, Mustafizur had some success against them even though the pacer wasnt at this best during that period. He however looked to get his mojo back in the tri-nation series, delivering some deadly spells against Zimbabwe. Yet Samaweera looked not so concerned for Mustafizur rather he pointed out the Bangladeshi spinners could do the damage. We have different plans for the individuals. I cant say specifically. Bangladesh got top quality spinners who could do the most of the damage. Samaweera however informed that they would wait for Mathews before the start of the match today.