Published: Mar 08, 2015, 08:27 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 09, 2015, 09:35 AM (IST)
Sri Lankan spinner Sachitra Senanayake played his first game of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. Sri Lanka were defeated by a strong Australian side at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) and the spinner gave away 59 runs from his nine over. After the match, Senanayake spoke to the media. (ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Points Table)
Q: How close could you have got had Dinesh Chandimal been able to play and if you can give us an update on his status?
Sachitra Senanayake (SS): So far, I think he went by the trainer, and he’ll be all right. We will see, but at that moment he couldn’t even run, but I think he’ll be okay.
Q: How close could he have got?
SS: Today he batted really well, so if he was there, Angelo (Mathews) and he could have chased that total easily, I think.
Q: I think this is your first match today in this tournament. How do you feel about that because you had to play such a tough game against Australia.
SS: It was very tough. Actually Australia is the best team in this World Cup, Australia and New Zealand, so this is my first experience in the World Cup, so I want to bowl pretty well. I thought the wicket would help us, but unfortunately it did not. The wicket was very good and I’m disappointed with myself. I actually wanted to bowl really well but I didn’t. I couldn’t take any wickets. Hopefully if I get another chance, I’ll do it.
Q: Do you think that both teams actually misread the wicket? There didn’t seem to be much spin on it, and I don’t think all the spinners bowled their full quota of overs.
SS: The thing it actually it was pretty dry wicket. We thought it will turn, but it didn’t, and Maxwell did the damage. At that stage actually we couldn’t use the spinners so we had to use the fast bowlers.
Q: Sachithra, Sri Lanka have given away quite a few runs all the way through the tournament, especially in the back end of an innings. Do you think the attack would be helped if an extra bowler had played? What do you think about the combination of the team?
SS: Actually it depends. We all knew Malinga would bowl well in the death overs, and in the last few matches, Suranga Lakmal and Thisara bowled really well. So it depends if someone. We have to change the plans and we have to do some new for the death overs, I think.
Q: Are you feeling a little hard done by with the number of injuries that you’ve had this tournament already? I think two players out of the original 15 and then another one again today and Herath, as well?
SS: Yeah, it’s unfortunate actually we missed Rangana Herath and now there is Chandimal, we lost Dimuth. I think we’re having a bad period in this World Cup. But hopefully we are in the qualifiers anyway, so I think we’ll be okay.
Q: And just missing out on the top two spot as it stands at the moment, how much of a blow is that to your overall hope?
SS: Yes, actually we aren’t worried about that thing. The thing is we are already in the qualifier. The first round match, it’s all over now. We have just one match. Once the qualifiers start, that will be the World Cup.
Q: Sachithra, this is similar to India what happened in the last World Cup. In 2011 there was a lot of talk about how half the team, or actually most of the team wanted to win the World Cup for a certain Sachin Tendulkar. Is there a feeling in the Sri Lanka camp that you want to win this World Cup not just because you want to win it for Sri Lanka but also for two gentlemen, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara?
SS: Yeah, actually after this World Cup we miss them very badly. We know that Sangakkara is our legend and so is Mahela Jayawardene, so they are the most experienced players in Sri Lanka, so we have to do something for them. This World Cup will be the most important thing for us actually.
Courtesy: ICC
