SRILANKAN FANS SEEMED TO BE IN A VERY FIERCE MOOD AFTER THE SHAMEFUL DEFEAT

SPORTSLIBRO CRICKET– LATEST CRICKET NEWS

A troop of Sri Lankan fans turned hostile after the marginal defeat against team India yesterday at Dambulla, the fans seemed to be in a very fierce mood and chanted outside the stadium as the bus was departing.

The defeat was such that the fans was not able to digest it and they gathered around the bus to show their dissatisfaction towards the team and the players of the nation

Around 50 fans gathered behind the bus as the players were about to board and began chanting “We want our cricket back.” “Bring back brand of cricket we played in 1996.”

Riot police had to intervene to clear the fans before the team members boarded the bus and headed towards the team hotel.

Sri Lanka were whitewashed in the three-match Test Series that preceded this game and lost the first two of those Tests inside four days. The third match finished inside three days. Upul Tharanga, the ODI captain, called on the fans to rally behind the team, before the change of formats. There was renewed hope in the knowledge that Sri Lanka had beaten Virat Kohli’s side in the Champions Trophy.

But India continued to dominate on their tour as they shot Sri Lanka out for 216 runs and then knocked off the target with Shikhar Dhawan smashing the third hundred on the tour. Captain Kohli was unbeaten on 82.

“It swings between hurt and embarrassment,” Sri Lanka’s Interim Coach Nic Pothas told journalists as the fans kept shouting from outside. “Emotionally you get angry. You get frustrated. You can’t fault anyone within that changing room. Yes, we didn’t play our best cricket today. That’s pretty obvious. You do get angry. To say “too many cooks” is probably accurate.

“We were 139 for one. Then we were 77 for 9. To lose nine wickets in 19 overs, is in anyone’s language unacceptable. We’ve got to take that on the chin as staff, as players, and that’s the reality of sport,” Pothas added.