By
N Ananthanarayanan
After slamming “too many cooks” for spoiling Sri Lankan cricket team in the wake of Indian cricket team’s crushing win in the first ODI on Sunday, interim head coach Nic Pothas was forced to issue statement saying all is fine with the process in place
Sri Lankan cricket, in crisis with the national team plunging from one low on the field to another in the ongoing India tour, scrambled on Wednesday to limit the public relations disaster that followed defeat against Virat Kohli’s side in the first One-day International at Dambulla at the weekend.
Sri Lankan cricket team’s interim coach, Nic Pothas had blasted the current set up following the nine-wicket defeat at Dambulla saying “too many cooks” were responsible for the current plight of the national team, which was also routed 3-0 in the Test series.
However, Sri Lanka Cricket took the drastic step on Wednesday of asking South African Pothas to issue a statement at the press conference ahead of the second ODI to be played at the Pallekele International Stadium on Thursday.
Pothas this time said everything was fine with the team set-up and the processes put in place would pull Sri Lanka out of the rut. He even blamed the media for putting a “spin” of his previous statement and that he had no issues with the Sri Lankan cricket board.
His comments were in contrast to that on Sunday when he said the players suffered because there were too many people meddling in selection and decision-making. Stalwarts of the 1996 World Cup triumph, Sanath Jayasuriya (chief selector) and Asanka Gurusinha (cricket manager), play influential roles.
“We will start off with a statement from the coach, and then a statement from the captain before we going into the Q & A,” announced Vrai Raymond, SLC’s media head. “We would like to limit it to tomorrow’s match and nothing else.”
“India, England too struggled”
With ODI skipper, Upul Tharanga, seated beside him, Pothas said: “We are in good shape at the moment; we have had a couple of training sessions. The boys are in very good spirits. As I mentioned before, we are very, very focused on the processes and procedures which will stand us in good stead in the future. That future will take time as we have stated before.
“We certainly can’t wave any magic wands around. We are in a position at the moment where England, India, Australia they have all found themselves in. We certainly have learnt from them and spoken to them. We are very, very confident how we are going to work.
“As for tomorrow, we just come on and keep on fighting. I’m very happy with everything that is going on within that four walls in that change room.
“And just to clarify things because you guys love a little spin on a good story, I’m very, very happy with the situation with the Board, which has been hugely supportive of everything that I do and the players do. Certainly I have no issues there.”
Courtesy:Hindustan Times