The Rajkot ODI on Tuesday isn’t one Sri Lanka would want to relive, not the bowlers anyway. So it wasn’t surprising when middle-order stalwart and former skipper Mahela Jayawardene came out calling for better bowling conditions on Thursday, the eve of second ODI against India at the VCA Stadium here.
Jayawardene said that neither the Lankans nor the Indian bowlers would have been happy with the track for the first one-dayer. He also called for some change in rules to make life a bit easier for bowlers.
“They can’t bowl outside the leg-stump, a bit more outside the off-stump is called a wide, only one bouncer is allowed per over, all that the bowlers can do is bowl in the batsmen’s strike zone,” Jayawardene pointed out.
The 32-year old right-hander said that whatever innovations are being made, those are overwhelmingly in favour of the batsmen.
The Sri Lankan veteran put up a brave face despite losing their two most potent bowlers, saying that that the absence of Muttiah Muralitharan and Dilhara Fernando won’t be felt.
He also said that the team’s morale hasn’t taken a beating. “We have won and lost many games in the last over but one should remember not many teams have chased down 400-plus totals so we are going into this game with a positive frame of mind,” explained Jayawardene.
