Sri Lanka’s batting needs to be brushed up - Dilshan

By Ranjan ANANDAPPA in Dubai

CRICKET: While Sri Lanka skipper Tillekeratne Dilshan lamented on the failure of his side’s batting, former Pakistan opener and present coach of the side Moshin Khan said that developing mental toughness and team spirit has been the key for the success in the present side.

Pakistan has risen like the phoenix from the ashes amidst adversaries to make a significant impact in the world cricket arena with their performance against Sri Lanka. They rate Sri Lanka as very tough opponents, sans even their star match winning and world record holding bowler Muthiah Muralitharan who recently retired from International Cricket.

Pakistan, like Sri Lanka when they are good, they are brilliant and when they fail, they are awful at times. But the beauty of the present lot is their consistency and now they are in the process of rediscovering their past glory. They have already pocketed the three match Test series 1-0 and have secured the ODI series as well and what more could one expects from a team that was in the cricketing wilderness for some time.

The Pakistan interim coach Moshin Khan was a happy man and predicted that their recent success is only the beginning and expected better things to follow.

“The success is due to hard work by a highly talented team. From the captain downward they have shown top team spirit and mental toughness, which is the key to success.

Moshin Khan was pleased with the blend of some talented youngsters and experience players in the present side. He said that there are also some talented players eagerly waiting for an opportunity. He stressed of the importance of a strong back-up players who could mix up with the seniors, which they have done successfully.” said Khan.

The coach said that he did not intend in blowing his own trumpet, and pointed out that the Pakistan Cricket Board and the selectors have done an admirable part in introducing a bunch of youngsters into the side.

“The team is built with senior players and youngsters which could form an effective combination, it has been all youngsters and all seniors, that should be the future policy, that could help to reach the top” the coach added.

The Pakistan coach further said that he personally did not bother about ranking’s although it is not a bad exercise. Moshin Khan firmly believed in taking match by match and focussing on a winning concept that will invariably put one up in the rankings.

The two teams will be preparing themselves for two gruelling Test series. Pakistan is scheduled to take England in the UAE while Sri Lanka will take wing to South Africa next month for a Tests and ODI series.

The Test and ODI wins should no doubt give Pakistan lot of confidence.

Sri Lanka will have to induldge themselves in a lot of home work, prior to the tour. Dilshan hopes to rectify the mistakes they did while batting in the concluded series against Pakistan during the Premier Division Club Tournament which will get under way as soon as the cricketers arrive in the Island.

Dilshan said that the bowling was a positive sign, but the same cannot be said about the batsmen.

“We had seven batsmen in the side, but in every match only two or three were among the runs.

There are areas of concern that we have to sit and clarify before we go to South Africa,” Dilshan said.