Sri Lanka skipper Dinesh Chandimal blamed his batsmen for their inning and 239-run defeat in the second Test match against India at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium on Monday. Four Indian batsmen such as Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara and Rohit Sharma made their tons each while skipper Virat Kohli raised the bar a little higher by making his fifth double ton. The hosts made runs galore in Nagpur while the spinners did the rest of the job by claiming wickets on a turning pitch.
Despite winning the toss and opting to bat first, the visitors were unable to project a decent score on the board. Chandimal also admitted that his team was outplayed from the first day itself.
"It was a good toss to win. Unfortunately we were outplayed from the first day. Our batting let us down again," Chandimal said after the match.
"When you're playing against India, you've got to score 350 plus. Before we came here, we had a game plan. We said to the guys 'If you get a start, you have to go on.' Hopefully these youngsters will come back strong," he added.
The skipper said the Sri Lankan bowlers did a good job.
"This wicket was good to bat on for the first three days. The bowling unit has done a really good job. But if you have no runs on the board, they can't do anything," he said.
Beginning the fourth day 384 runs behind and needing to bat about five sessions to save the Test, Sri Lanka failed to step up to the pressure and were bundled out for 166 in just 49.3 overs.
For India, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who became the fastest bowler to take 300 wickets in Test history, scalped eight wickets.
(With IANS Inputs)
