Sri Lankan captain Dhananjaya de Silva has expressed frustration over his team’s batting struggles during the ongoing tour of England. Sri Lanka’s inability to post substantial first-innings totals has led to their series loss, with the team exceeding 300 runs only once.
Dhananjaya highlighted the main issue as the batters’ failure to convert promising starts into big scores. He noted the consistent performances of England’s Joe Root as a model for Sri Lankan players to emulate. “Our batters need to score more runs. We haven’t been able to turn starts into significant innings,” Dhananjaya said. “England’s bowlers have great control and rarely offer loose deliveries. We need to adapt better to this challenge.”
Despite individual efforts, such as Dhananjaya’s fifties in both Tests and Kamindu Mendis’s impressive form with three fifties and three centuries in five Tests, Sri Lanka’s batting line-up has struggled. Mendis’s century in the first Test and his 74 at Lord’s were standout performances.
Dhananjaya also addressed speculation about moving Mendis up the batting order, stating that if Mendis is performing well at his current position, there’s no need to make changes. “Kamindu is doing well at No. 7, and there’s no reason to disrupt that,” he explained. “We will discuss potential changes in the future but for now, we believe he’s best utilized where he is.”