‘No need to make mischief out of it’ – Mickey Arthur responds to Russel Arnold’s comments on his convo with Dasun Shanaka after India series loss

Mickey Arthur wasn’t a happy man after Sri Lanka lost the second ODI against India by three wickets on Tuesday, July 20 at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. The defeat also meant that the Men in Blue won the series 2-0 with one game left on Friday. During India’s run-chase, Arthur looked in an animated mode with emotions flowing as per the ebbs and flows of the match.

The Lankans, in the end, lost the game after Deepak Chahar’s unbeaten 82-ball 69 with seven fours and one six. The hosts succumbed after being in a winning position. After the end of the match, Arthur was seen, having a heated conversation with Dasun Shanaka, the Lankan skipper. From the convo, it was evident that not everything was right in the home team’s camp.

In the meantime, former Lankan cricketer Russel Arnold said that the conversation should have taken place inside the dressing room and not in the park. Arnold took to Twitter and wrote, “That conversation between Coach and captain should not have happened on the field but in the dressing room.”

Arthur replied by saying that they had a ‘good debate’ though he admitted being frustrated. Arthur replied to Arnold and wrote, “Russ, we win together and lose together but we learn all the time! Dasun and myself are growing a team and we both were very frustrated we did not get over the line! It was actually a very good debate, no need to make mischief out of it!”

Here’s Mickey Arthur’s reply

Following the defeat, Shanaka was disappointed, but he didn’t forget to laud his team for the improved performance. He couldn’t perform with the bat but took the prized wicket of Hardik Pandya that had put the Lankans on the driver’s seat.

“I am really proud of the ways the boys played today. It was a really tough game. Credit to the Indians and especially Deepak, who took the game away from us. We started well again but lost several wickets in the middle overs. We shouldn’t give them easy wickets and we need to bat better till the batting powerplay,” Shanaka said.