Aravinda de Silva blasts Lankan bowling
CricInfo - 27 August 2001
Veteran batsman Aravinda de Silva, on the verge of retirement after his
recent omission from the national squad, blamed Sri Lanka's bowlers and
fielders for their seven-wicket defeat by India in the second Test Kandy.
De Silva, writing for the wicket.com, said: "Sri Lanka's bowlers were unable
to disrupt the Indian batsmen's concentration and delivered too many four
balls, which enabled them to score far more freely than should have been the
case."
"The Sri Lankan bowling also failed to respond to the challenge, with the
main attack force, especially Muralitharan, failing to get as much turn out
of surface as he normally does in the fourth innings," he said. "The seamers
were just as disappointing in their length and direction."
De Silva, not the sharpest in the field, went on to criticise the home sides
fielding: "Sri Lanka's patchy fielding effort did not help, with too many
catches being dropped at crucial stages of the innings. It was so unlike
Muttiah Muralitharan to drop a catch at a crucial moment."
"It was also disappointing to see Russel Arnold, one of the more brilliant
fielders in the side, dropping an easy catch which could have changed the
whole course of the match," he added.
De Silva pointed out, however, that Sri Lanka were unlucky: "Sri Lanka also
had their moments of misfortunes. There were several confident appeals for
leg-before decisions, which did not earn the umpires approval."
He did, though, comment that: "Compared to the previous match in Asgiriya in
March against England, the umpiring was of a far higher standard in this
game."
© CricInfo