Top order needed to do more, says batting coach Nawaz

A late rally from Sri Lanka was not enough for India to record a close two-run win in the first T20I on Monday

Sri Lanka’s batting coach Naveed Nawaz believes that mistakes from the batting unit, in particular the top order batters, was the key reason for Sri Lanka’s two-run defeat to India on Tuesday, adding that changes could be imminent for the remaining T20Is of the three-match series.   

Chasing what could have been considered a below-par total of 163, Sri Lanka slumped to 68 for 5 in the 11th over, before contributions from Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga and Chamika Karunaratne brought the visitors to the cusp of victory.   

“We could have got more out of the top order batsmen,” Nawaz said, “but those who came after did well to bring us back into the game. Unfortunately, we were unable to finish it.”   
Nawaz commended the effort of the bowlers to comeback strongly after giving away 29 runs off the first two overs of India’s innings and restricting the hosts to a “gettable” score.   
“I think the par score in this ground batting first is somewhere around 170-180, so I thought the bowlers, although they started with a shocker, they came back well as a bowling unit and restricted India to 162, which is a good effort. I think the score was gettable, it was the batting unit that needed to take responsibility that they need to get this score,” Nawaz said.   
Sitting in the reserves are two batsmen who were outstanding at the recently concluded Lanka Premier League (LPL), Avishka Fernando and Sadeera Samarawickrama, and Nawaz hinted that they could be in contention for a place in the remaining two T20Is.   

“Obviously, the selectors must be thinking about it now, because those two boys have done really well in the LPL. Avishka has been doing well before he got injured and Sadeera has been doing well in the Sri Lanka A team for a while now. Those two are in line and that’s the reason why they are with the squad,” Nawaz said.   

“I am sure they will get an opportunity to play somewhere down the line and I am sure the selectors will think about it too.”   

Nawaz also said steps were being taken to address the recent spate of injuries that the team suffered during the T20I World Cup in Australia, that severely depleted Sri Lanka’s fast bowling options.   

“Most of the injuries that happened were soft-tissue injuries like hamstring injuries. I believe some of them were due to the soft ground conditions that we played in in Geelong and the training programme has been altered. We are thinking about having new fitness protocols to counter that. I am sure it’s going to be successful, and we are going to counter the soft-tissue injuries we had in the past,” Nawaz added.