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India v/s Sri Lanka | 2nd Test, Day 1: Visitors' coach Nic Pothas hails R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja

'On a wicket that has not done much, and losing seven wickets to spin, it is a disappointing change room,' says Pothas.

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Sri Lanka’s interim head coach Nic Pothas credited India spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja for tying down the Sri Lankan batsmen to just 205 despite there being no “demons on the pitch”.

Speaking at the end of the first day’s play of the second Test here on Friday, Pothas said: “You are talking of the two top spinners of the world. Here, the wicket has not done anything. All what it has done is to skid on a bit. On a wicket that has not done much, and losing seven wickets to spin, it is a disappointing change room.”

The South African born 44-year-old particularly credited Ashwin for his four wickets and the change in angles, taking all his four wickets by bowling round the wicket. “Ashwin is an intelligent bowler with some subtle variations. He is going to be handful on any wicket he is going to play. But that’s not the first time that we have faced right-arm off-spin from round the wicket. At the time, you are asking batsmen to adapt and be flexible for conditions,” he said.

Sri Lanka scored only 47 runs in the first session and lost two wickets in 27 overs. Pothas explained that “in the first session of a Test, you try to set a base and try to bat for a long time. You try and bat for a day and a bit if you win the toss. New ball spells are always tough and you try to blunt that. I thought India bowled well, I don’t think there were too many free balls going that we missed out on, but we adapted after lunch.”

Pothas admitted that his team did not bat well as per the conditions. “We didn’t bat as well as we should have done. The captain (Dinesh Chandimal) made a decision at that time (to reverse sweep Ashwin and fall LBW). We empower the batsmen to make decisions at the middle. He obviously felt that that was the way to score runs at that point, it didn’t come off. I probably say that maybe the timing of that shot was perhaps not at his best. He is playing well and he is confident and we back our batsmen to be positive. You can’t be there for ever and block it.”

Pothas backed wicketkeeper-batsman Niroshan Dickwella, who fell to a rash shot against Jadeja soon after tea for 24. At that stage, Sri Lanka were 160 for five. The last five wickets fell for an additional 45 runs.

Asked if Dickwella’s dismissal was responsible for the rest of the batsmen caving in meekly, Pothas said: In hindsight, that’s what the numbers tell you. We let ourselves from that point onwards. You can’t say that Niroshan Dickwella gets out and the rest got out. Dickwella is a positive batter and that’s a shot he plays well. I don’t want to stop him being himself. I want people to bat the way they bat and he is the kind of player who transfers pressure back to the bowlers.”

He hoped that Sri Lanka return on Saturday and execute their plans well. “The wicket has got no demons. It hasn’t spun, it hasn’t seamed. There were six straight ball dismissals. Ashwin and Jadeja got wickets bowling stump to stump. At this level you can’t be missing straight balls,” said a disappointed Pothas.

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