2 November - Mumbai - Sri Lanka Assistant Coach Naveed Nawaz post-match press conference
[Reporter:]
Is it a cause for concern that it's the start of decline of Sri Lankan cricket or it's nothing of that sort? Because Sri Lanka first failed to qualify directly but then came through the qualifying rounds and then these kind of performances. What are we to understand?
[Naveed Nawaz:]
Well, it's a cause of concern for sure, but I don't see it as the decline of Sri Lanka cricket. We've got a young group of players; we've got only a few guys who have played over 100 ODIs here in this group as well. So, I think it's a rebuilding stage where we are, a couple of new players are still learning the trade I would say. So, we have some exciting prospects back home and also in this group and I hope they'll take every opportunity to learn from the mistakes done and move forward and do well in the future. So that's the only hope that we have.
[Reporter:]
The World Cup seems to be for Sri Lanka more or less done and dusted. So, what about the two remaining matches? How are you going to approach them because we have to finish in the first seven to qualify for the Champions Trophy. Yeah. So how important are the remaining matches going to be?
[Naveed Nawaz:]
I think it's going to be important that we finish above the eight to qualify for champions trophy. So, like they say, we've got to find a factor to motivate the boys and keep them alive because we had the same issue in June when we played the World Cup qualifiers. So, there was no guarantee when we went into Zimbabwe to qualify for the World Cup. We had to win all our games and as well we came to the finals to qualify for this tournament. So, I guess we've crossed that barrier and we've got a pretty young team as I told you before. So, we will get back and we will get the boys motivated and get back in and somehow see what we can do in the next two games, try, and bring out our best cricket.
[Reporter:]
We've been speaking about batting collapses, we've seen a few this year, there was one in Trivandrum in January, a few against Pakistan back home in the Asia Cup final and now the India. We know that the batters need to take up responsibility but how much of responsibility should the batting coach take up?
[Naveed Nawaz:]
100% - I mean there are areas that has worked and there are areas that has not worked so as coaches we are all responsible for whatever happens.
[Reporter:]
Having seen the Indian bowling up front, both in the Asia Cup final as well as in the World Cup match. What are your thoughts on this? Is this the best bowling combination that you've seen from India ever?
[Naveed Nawaz:]
We've faced them in the Asia Cup final as well as today. I've seen the bowling attack, Bumrah, Siraj, and of course Shami. They're very skilful. They always get the batsman to play the ball, and the ball's always attacked on the stumps. They all can swing the ball both ways and also, we have seen their death over skills as well, the middle as well as the death so I guess it may be one of the best bowling attacks for India in the recent times.
[Reporter:]
Madhushankar's performance, one of the silver linings.
[Naveed Nawaz:]
Yeah, he's been doing really well for the last one year or so since he was graduated from the under-19 into the national team. He's held on to his nerve pretty well today and bowling, after he was being hit for a couple of fours as well, came back in the second spell and bowled really well, mixing it up in the depth as well.
So, we are happy for him and he's one of our future prospects, I would say.
[Reporter]
So far this year, Sri Lanka has been all out for less than 100 runs four times. 50 runs in the Asian Cup final and 55 today. how do you as a batting coach explain the reasons for this situation today? Especially about the performance shown in today's match with India?
[Naveed Nawaz]
Reflecting on today's match, the Indian bowlers performed admirably, and credit must be given to them. When it comes to our batsmen, despite the presence of some swing. I can't say exactly because when there is a new ball the ball, The fact that there is an oscillation is something we have already expected. Typically, we engage in the match after thorough preparation, and I believe it's important that we take full responsibility for any errors that may occur. During a challenging moment in the match, we noticed that none of our team members were able to step back and effectively manage the situation. Angelo Mathews made some attempts in this regard. After all the others were outed, it became challenging to expect our tail-end batsmen and bowlers to excel in their batting. Therefore, I believe it wouldn't be fair to criticize our overall batting performance. We've demonstrated our ability to score well in this same tournament against other strong bowlers, achieving about 340 runs. Instead, I view our deficiency in terms of our fighting spirit in this particular instance.
[Reporter]
Do you believe we encountered a mental block when we were all out for just fifty runs in the Asia Cup? Do you think that our batsmen, in particular, might be experiencing a mental block as a result of that?
[Naveed Nawaz]
We talked about it. I thought we flushed and ended it. we talked about it with those guys as a playgroup, we completely removed it from their heads. We emphasized to them the importance of approaching the upcoming matches without dwelling on it. However, I think that such an incident could potentially affect their confidence. Otherwise, in this tournament, we haven't witnessed the ball being attacked in such a manner before. This is the first time I've seen this in this world cup competition.
[Reporter]
As mentioned earlier, we have been all out for less than 100 runs four times this year. It should not take as one incident but to delve deeper into it. When assessing the skill gap, do you believe our team's abilities have reached a level comparable to other top teams?
[Naveed Nawaz]
Indeed, there is certainly a skill gap, which is why we had to participate in the World Cup qualifier matches before entering the main World Cup competition. This gap became particularly evident when we faced the top teams. Additionally, I believe there are a few shortcomings in our batting lineup. There were some minor issues in our opening batting, and we also noticed some small deficiencies in the positions of number six and number seven. We tried to address and improve these areas, but unfortunately, we didn't get the expected performances from Kusal Janith or Dimuth Karunaratne. On a positive note, other players like Pathum, Sadeera, Kusal, and Charith Asalanka were among the scores. However, in today's match, what stood out was that after losing the first two wickets quickly, our middle-order batsmen had to face the new ball, and we were unable to prevent further wickets from falling.
[Reporter]
What do you say about our continuous heavy defeats while providing all the facilities to the players and what do we need to do to recover from this situation?
[Naveed Nawaz]
What do you mean by facilities?
[Reporter]
That means we provide all facilities to the players, playing these games after giving everything from the cricket board?
[Naveed Nawaz]
Yes. They play international cricket. So it's hard to play without facilities, isn't it?
[Reporter]
When analyzing this match, it does bring back memories of the Asian Cup final. To me, it doesn't appear to be solely your problem or the coach's problem. I can see that there is talent within the team. What concerns me is the sense of despondency that the team seems to be experiencing. Is there a process in place to improve the players' mental state? As coaches, what steps do coaches take to address this?
[Naveed Nawaz]
I agree with your observation, Dhammika. I had a similar thought. About two or three months ago, before we began the qualifier matches, we did bring in a psychologist to address these issues, but unfortunately, it didn't continue. In Sri Lanka, we have limited experienced individuals in this subject in Sri Lanka, even though there is one person working on it through the Ministry of Sports. As coaches, we do face certain limitations. We can get involved in some things and we can't interfere in everything. we must respect that not all players may openly discuss their issues. Our primary role is coaching, and we strive to support the players in their mental preparation for the tournament and their training to the best of our abilities. Additionally, we are available to assist with any other challenges they might face. If this involves technical or practical challenges, we put in significant effort to assist them. I believe we need to establish a psychological framework to address such issues when they arise.
[Reporter]
In this year, it's the third time in matches against the Indian team that we've been all out for less than 100. What do their bowlers do to exert such pressure on the Sri Lankan players? Another aspect to consider is how to handle the swinging ball effectively. What adjustments should our batsmen make in such conditions?
[Naveed Nawaz]
I believe we should acknowledge the skill of the Indian bowlers in swinging the ball, as it's one of their strong points. Shami, Bumrah, and Siraj, all three consistently hit the right areas and executed their deliveries effectively, resulting in the swing they generated. Today, it appeared that our players didn't handle the challenges presented by the bowlers effectively. They didn't respond well to the problems posed by the opposition bowlers, especially when facing the swinging ball. It's essential for our players to find ways to handle the mental pressure, particularly in situations where our wickets are falling rapidly due to the swinging ball. But they were unable to do it.