As professional cricketers, we have to do better: Charith Asalanka

Two days, two matches, and two batting collapses have seen Sri Lanka finish second-best in the first two T20 Internationals (T20I) against India in Pallekele. As a result, India have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. On July 27 (Saturday), Sri Lanka lost nine wickets for just 30 runs in pursuit of 214, and the following day, on July 28 (Sunday), they scored 31/7 in the last five overs to put up just 161/9 after being asked to bat first.

Overall, it has been a disappointing couple of matches for the hosts, who were in excellent positions in both games but could not kick on. Expressing disappointment, skipper Charith Asalanka, who scored 0 and 14 in these matches, has asked his men to pull up their socks.

"I am really disappointed with the way we batted at the death. We must really improve. This pitch, when the ball gets older, it gets tough to bat. As professional cricketers, we have to do better. We were behind by 15-18 runs," Asalanka said at the post-match presentation.

India has shown intent right from ball one of the series, and newly appointed skipper Suryakumar Yadav is extremely pleased with his batters' approach.

"We spoke about this before the start of the tournament - what brand of cricket we want to play. This is the template we want to go ahead with. The way the boys batted was wonderful.  Very happy for the boys. Showed a lot of character in tough situations," he said.

One of the biggest positives to come out of this match is Ravi Bishnoi, who finished with 3/26. He was entrusted to bowl in the death as well, and he responded with a couple of wickets in the phase.  "It's a good responsibility to have [to bowl in the death], it means the captain and the management trust in me," the leg-spinner said.

With a 2-0 lead, India will look to complete a clean sweep when they face Sri Lanka in the final T20I in Pallekele on July 30 (Tuesday).

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