Matara, Sri Lanka: Former captain of Sri Lanka Sanath Jayasuriya has openly expressed his disappointment with the Sri Lankan team after their first series loss against Bangladesh.
"As a past player and captain, it’s very difficult for me to come to terms with the first series loss to Bangladesh. National pride is at stake boys fight to the last," Jayasuriya wrote on Twitter.
In the three-match ODI series being played against Sri Lanka, host Bangladesh won the second ODI by 103 runs via Duckworth-Lewis rule. With this, Bangladesh has managed to take an unassailable 2–0 lead in the three-match series. Wicket-keeper batsman Mushfiqur played a heroic innings as he scored 125 runs off 127 balls with the help of 10 fours.
This is the first time that Sri Lanka was beaten by Bangladesh in an ODI series. In the second ODI, while chasing the target, no Sri Lankan team batsman could attain a big partnership. Opener Danushka Gunathilaka scored the highest 24 runs in Sri Lanka's innings. Apart from them, Pathun Nishanka scored 20, Kushal Mendis 15, Ashen Bandara 15, Captain Kushal Perera 14, Dasun Sanaka 11, and Dhananjay De Silva scored 10 while Isuru Udana 18 and Dushmanta Chameera remained unbeaten for four runs.
Such a dismal performance by Sri Lanka, who once were the world champions in 1996 and then reached the finals consecutively in 2007 and 2011, is a rare sight. They changed the captain recently. Sri Lankan cricketers are not building a great reputation around their team. During South Africa’s tour of Sri Lanka, when SL lost the series 0-2, some players were caught smoking, drinking and getting involved in all sought of objectionable activities.