One wouldn't be far off if he felt that the rain-abandoned Guwahati T20I actually helped Sri Lanka survive a series whitewash at the hands of India after the team suffered heavy losses in Indore and Pune with even its skipper Lasith Malinga failing to provide any inspiration. 

The inexperienced Lankans failed to show good discipline with the ball and any kind of game awareness while batting as they went down by huge margins to end the short tour this Friday (January 10). 

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"We lost 2-0. I have to perform well, because I have experience playing T20 cricket, but I didn’t get a single wicket in this tournament, that is why we are in this situation, 65-70 per cent (of the times)," Malinga told reporters after following up his expensive spell in the previous game with another one in his team's 78-run defeat in Pune.

"I am the most experienced player in the team in T20s. Yes, I have the pressure to get wickets because I am a wicket-taking bowler, but I feel if we want to win the match we have to get one-two wickets early in first six overs, we didn’t get that in this tournament," the captain added. 

"The top order is important and Indian top order got good partnerships. Partnership is important in T20 game. Because people (players) are thinking it is 20 overs, like we have to hit every single ball."

A lot of focus in the coming months needs to be on how to maintain consistency in all departments if this Sri Lanka team is to pose any kind of challenge at the World Cup in Australia. "They can bat and they can hit shots. But they’ve to learn to build an innings," Malinga said of his batsmen. "That we are lacking. Last one and half/two years, we didn’t have that luxury."

"Previously, we had Sanga (Kumara Sangakkara), Mahela (Jayawardane) and Dilshan – they knew how to build an innings. The young players are talented, they want to play their shots, but sometimes they have to be calm and handle the situation. That part is lacking."

On his own performance, Malinga accepted he'll have to tackle the pressures of captaincy better. "Going forward, I am looking forward to get my job done," he said. "I can’t give excuse to others (on non-performance) as I have wicket-taking variations, skills.

"I have experience of playing franchise cricket but, at the end of the day, in this tournament, I did not do anything for the team."

Under Malinga, Sri Lanka won the 2014 T20 World Cup in Bangladesh, but that was a completely different team. "Captaincy means, when we have experienced players who can handle situations, it is very easy to do the job. But now I don’t have that luxury," the 36-year-old said. 

"When I was captain in 2014, I had Mahela, Sanga, Angelo (Mathews), Dilshan, we had lots of experienced players who were match-winners, they knew what they needed to do. Now, players are not experienced and I have to guide them and I have to wait and see."

(Inputs from PTI)