SPORTS REPORTER

The Sri Lankan pace attack picked up 33 of the 40 wickets over the two Tests against Bangladesh, an unforeseen development from Bangladesh’s perspective. Skipper Dhananjaya de Silva talked about feeling the need for stepping up their pace aggression, especially on the flat wicket of Chattogram in the second Test.

Chattogram has historically produced spin tracks and there was some help for both sides’ spinners but it was the pacers that made their presence felt in the heat of Chattogram. Sri Lanka in fact went without key paceman Kasun Rajitha in the second Test.

“As a captain I think more than going with a spinner on a dead wicket, I like to play a more aggressive brand of cricket, and go with fast bowlers. That’s why we went with three quicks. Our bowlers don’t need to have grass on the track to get wickets, and they proved that,” he said.

Not just the new ball, Sri Lanka threatened with the old ball too, something Bangladesh could learn from. The short deliveries were used to good advantage, while Lankan pacers bowled good lengths, helped on by curious shot selection from the Bangladesh batters.

“To get a wicket is really hard here. It’s very hot with the sun, and there was not a lot of life in the pitch, so we had to work very hard,” Dhananjaya said.

The two Test wins are Sri Lanka’s first in the new World Test Championship cycle. Dhananjaya said it was about improvements made every day over time.

“If we can learn day by day and raise our game by 1 percent, we can make winning a habit,” he said as Sri Lanka moved up to fourth in the rankings.