SL vs Ind, 2nd ODI: We haven't won much recently, we're trying to do our best, says Asalanka
Jul 21, 2021
Colombo [Sri Lanka], July 21 : Sri Lanka batsman Charith Asalanka has said everyone in his team is a little emotional after suffering a heartbreaking loss against India in the second ODI of the three-match series.
Deepak Chahar (69*) smashed a gutsy fifty and shared an unbeaten 84-run stand with Bhuvneshwar Kumar (19*) to take India home after the visitors were reduced to 193/7 in the second ODI. India was down and almost out in their chase but Chahar made sure India get home in the final over.
"We're all emotional -- the team and coaches are all emotional. We're a young team. We haven't won much recently, and we're trying to do our best to play together for our country. Everyone tried hard and took it to the final over, but unfortunately, we couldn't win," said Asalanka during a virtual post-match press conference.
"What we talked about in the 40th over was to push the game deep. We wanted to increase their required rate. But they were successful because they didn't lose any wickets. They had a plan to play Wanindu out defensively and get runs off everyone else, and it worked. If they'd tried to get runs off Wanindu, then maybe they would have lost. I guess the other bowlers have to talk and figure out how to get a wicket in that situation," he added.
Asalanka also admitted that his side made mistakes on the field, and the visitors made full use of them. "We did make some mistakes in the field, and we gave away more than 10 runs in the field. We need to fix that. Nos. 8 and 9 also scored runs, so we have to figure out how to stop that as well," said Asalanka.
