Sri Lanka’s Pathum Nissanka gestures as he celebrates his century during the Asia Cup cricket match against India in Dubai on September 26, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AP
Sri Lanka head coach Sanath Jayasuriya has asserted his side doesn’t have a “mental block” against India after going down in the Super Over to Suryakumar Yadav and Co in an inconsequential Asia Cup Super 4s match.
Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh produced a brilliant Super Over to win the game for his side here on Friday after Sri Lanka matched India’s 202 runs at the end of 20 overs with opener Pathum Nissanka smashing a belligerent century.
The legendary cricketer said that he was fairly satisfied with his boys, saying this team can go very far despite Sri Lanka losing all three Super 4s games in the tournament.
“I would’ve preferred to finish games in normal time. No captain or coach wants to go to a Super Over,” said Jayasuriya during the post-match press conference.
“Unfortunately, Dasun (Shanaka) missed completing the third run. But no, there’s no mental block against India. Our batting line-up is strong, and we’ve given them confidence. Chasing 200 (203) is never easy, but we almost did it, which shows the quality we have,” he added.
Sri Lanka had suffered a similar defeat in 2024 during the third T20I in Pallekele when they made a mess of an easy chase to be at the mercy of a ‘Super Over’, which India won.
Jayasuriya praised Nissanka (107) and Kusal Perera (58 off 32 balls) whose second-wicket stand yielded 127 runs in just 70 balls.
“When you’re chasing 202 (203), you have to keep finding boundaries. Their partnership was the key. The momentum shifted when we started losing wickets. That’s natural in a chase because someone has to take risks.
“Sadly, Pathum got out at the wrong time, and later on, the ball began to turn more. Still, it was a very good game of cricket.
“Kusal is one of the best players of spin in our team. He played that role well again, though I’d have liked him to bat longer. Both took calculated risks, and when they wanted boundaries, they executed them. Pathum also had a bit of a hamstring issue recently but still gave 100 per cent for the team, which shows his commitment.” The batting great added that one of the reasons for Sri Lanka’s defeats was the team’s sluggishness in adapting to the wickets.
“In T20 cricket, assessing conditions quickly is everything. In Abu Dhabi, for example, the first-round pitches had pace and bounce, but in the second round, things changed, and we were too slow to adapt. That cost us.
“The disappointment was the Bangladesh match in the Super Fours — 168 on that pitch was a good score, but we didn’t bowl well enough to defend it. Against Pakistan, we didn’t assess the conditions (in Abu Dhabi) quickly enough, and were late to adapt.
“Today (Friday), India played very well to get over 200. Our boys showed they’re capable of chasing that, but again we just fell short. Apart from that Bangladesh game, I’m fairly satisfied, though disappointed not to reach the final. We have the batting and bowling quality.
“The key is to execute plans according to conditions and opposition. If we do that consistently, this team can go very far,” he said.
Published – September 27, 2025 11:20 am IST
