Dinesh Chandimal desires to take Sri Lanka cricket on top once again

Dinesh Chandimal, the Test skipper of Sri Lanka, has expressed his desire to take the cricket in Sri Lanka to the top once again. He played a magnificent knock of 155 in the first Test against Pakistan in UAE and remained unbeaten throughout the innings. Chandimal was appointed at the helm post the resignation of Angelo Mathews across all formats in the aftermath of the defeat against Zimbabwe in ODIs. They were also whitewashed by India recently at home as the cricket in the country touched a new low.

However, things seem to fall in place finally for them as the captain led from the front and helped them post a formidable total in the first innings. He will be tested on this tour as the series is expected to be fiercely competitive and the fans would surely want to witness the pride of Sri Lankan cricket to be restored once again.

I want to take the team forward

Dinesh Chandimal spoke of the pain he went through in an interview to Cricbuzz but he also insisted that he would like to take the Sri Lankan cricket forward and build the same passion in the team again. He also expressed that he desires to take the cricket in the country to greater heights. The captain revealed his mindset during his marathon knock at Abu Dhabi on Friday.

“The heat was the thing. It was very challenging. The ball wasn’t coming onto the bat and we had to bat for long to get adjusted to the wicket. The outfield is also very slow. Sometimes I tend to think after I play a shot that I have cleared the gap, but the ball goes slowly to the fielder. Very pleased with the knock. Before I went out to bat I was trying to score the first 30 runs in front of the wicket and then cash in. Wanted to hang in there for long enough and we knew that if we do that, Pakistan will struggle given how tough the conditions are out there,” he said of the conditions in UAE.

“Everyone has to work hard. I stress a lot on three things which are fitness, fielding and discipline. We need to have those three things in order to move forward as a team. After batting for that long today, that was the exact reason why I went out to field. As captain, I want to lead by example. We are slowly building those things up. The players are giving lot of support. During training and during games, I can see things happening. We will not get there soon, but gradually we will get there. I want to take Sri Lankan cricket to where it was when I started,” he continued.

“I was part of the side that was doing well when I started. There are a few players in the current line-up who were part of those great Sri Lankan teams. I can sense a big difference from then and now. We, the seniors, need to think about how we can build that culture that we found when we walked into the side. How to build that passion and how to play that Sri Lankan brand of cricket. We have gone through some tough times. I would like to say thanks to all the selectors. Before we came down to UAE, they spoke to me and gave me lot of confidence. That must have been one reason why things are beginning to fall in place. I would like to thank each one of them,” the 27-year-old concluded with a hope of restoring the pride of his country.