2024-03-26 10:43:13
Sri Lanka’s journey in the Test Championship did not start well. They lost the two-match Test series at home to England by 2-0. With the sadness of defeat in mind, the Lankans went to play the Test against Bangladesh in Sylhet. New captain Dhananjaya de Silva had a tough challenge ahead of him. Leading the team, challenging yourself to perform. At the end of four days of fighting, smiles appeared on their faces. Sri Lanka’s ‘Mission Complete’. They beat Bangladesh by a huge margin of 328 runs and opened the points book in the Test Championship. This time their target is Chittagong Test.
All their plans around the Sylhet Test worked. Now everything is about the Chittagong Test. After the match, team captain Dhananjaya de Silva said, ‘I am mainly looking at improving match by match rather than seeing where we are in the ranking. This match is over. I now look forward to the next match. We look at what we can do in the next match. We have to plan to win the match. Our ranking depends on our results. That’s why all our plans revolve around a match.
Sri Lankan pacers got 20 wickets in this test. This is the first time their three pacers have taken 20 wickets in a Test in the subcontinent. Dhananjaya was very happy to implement his plan, ‘When we saw the wicket, there was no decision to go down with three pacers. Our plan worked. Day in and day out, the pace bowlers have matched themselves well. I am happy with the way they bowled. We also play in three pacer countries. The new ball has movement on the wicket. If they get wickets, the captain’s job becomes easier.
This is the first time that Dhananjaya has captained outside the country. Happy Lankan skipper with winning start, ‘I have led the A-team and the Sri Lankan club cricket team. Captaincy is not new for me. The team has three former captains and ODI captains. They are helping me. Management is on my side. For me, captaincy is not stressful. Great opportunity. I’m having a good time.’
Dhananjaya’s book of receipts in this match is full of riches. Apart from winning the team, he also scored a century in two innings as captain. What no Sri Lankan team leader could do before.