Sri Lanka's T20 World Cup Exit Blamed on Failure to Adapt to US Surfaces

Sri Lanka's disappointing performance at the T20 World Cup 2024 has been attributed to their inability to adapt to the diverse playing surfaces in the United States, according to captain Wanindu Hasaranga.

Despite arriving in the US 10 days prior to their opening match and participating in two warm-up games, Sri Lanka struggled to adjust to the conditions, particularly in their two crucial defeats against South Africa and Bangladesh.

In their match against South Africa in New York, Sri Lanka was bowled out for a mere 77 runs, while in Dallas against Bangladesh, they were restricted to 124 for 9. These batting collapses effectively ended their hopes of reaching the Super Eight stage.

Hasaranga acknowledged that the team's early exit was primarily due to their own shortcomings rather than external factors. "When you lose a match, you can blame pitches and other things, but as professional cricketers, that's not a good thing," he said. "Even the other team has to play on the same pitch, and it's our job to change the way we play."

While Sri Lanka had a brief training camp in North Carolina before their warm-up matches, Hasaranga admitted that it was insufficient preparation for the varied conditions they encountered. "We have to thank the cricket board for bringing us here 10 days early and organizing a training camp for us," he said. "That was a big thing. It was important to get used to conditions, weather, and the time zone here."

However, the pitches in different regions of the US proved to be vastly different, making it difficult for Sri Lanka to adapt. "Even though in some countries pitches are more similar from place to place, that's not the case in the USA," Hasaranga explained. "We adjusted as well as we could, but we unfortunately got New York for the first match, and it didn't go well for us. In the second match, we went to Dallas and didn't adjust well to that pitch."

Hasaranga emphasized the importance of taking responsibility for their performance. "As a team and as a captain, we have to take the responsibility for that," he said. "We didn't make those changes and adapt, and that was our main flaw."

Tags: #T20WorldCup2024, #SriLankaCricket, #WaninduHasaranga, #PitchConditions, #BattingCollapses