Abu Dhabi: It was a case of the same old batting saga for Sri Lanka and the end result being another humiliating One Day International series loss.
Sri Lankan batsmen were left searching for cover as their team suffered their 10th successive loss and will be now only playing for pride as Pakistan have taken an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.
Understandably, their South African coach Nic Pothas was furious with the spineless effort from his wards and did not mince words in saying that only “players with character” should remain in the team.
“I expect things to change. I’m interested in picking players with character. We have to speak with the selectors and find out whether we have characters in that room. We saw what happened in the Test series. Once you have good character and fighters, things happen,” said Pothas adding that he might sound a bit harsh but he hasn’t seen the character yet from this group.
“I may be speaking out of turn, but I’m not too sure whether too many people have booked the ticket for the World Cup,” said a dejected-looking Pothas, who added that preparations are in vain if one cannot put it together to reap rewards. “We can have so many meetings and that many practices, but once you cross that line, you need to show a little bit of fight. It’s a tough situation. We have seen the same thing happening over and over again and something needs to change.”
The South African fumed over the lack of application on the part of his batsmen that has repeatedly saw them post poor scores. Out of the last 10 outings, the Lankans have not been able to reach 250 plus score on eight occasions.
“It looked a good wicket and there were no demons on that wicket. Pakistan have a good bowling attack, but it is certainly not a 208 all-out wicket. That’s for sure, I just like to see a bit more fight. I’m not seeing that character coming out at the moment,” said Pothas, whose team’s nemesis has been teenage leg-spinner Shadab Khan, whom they have not been able to pick especially their experienced Test captain Dinesh Chandimal.
“We have discussed that. Has his googly got a million wickets? No. Is that absolutely un-playable? No. There’s a bit more to it. Those of us who have played the game know that there is an element of understanding and empathy because it’s not easy. When you are out of form, you struggle,” said Pothas adding that, after the last few series, one of the most disappointing things for him and his coaching group was the team allowing opposition to roll over them.
“Had we been in the same situation 3-0 down, but had shown some fight and competed; I wouldn’t have been frustrated as I am now. There’s only some extent you can take the frustration.”
