Sri Lankan Test skipper Dinesh Chandimal, on Wednesday, said that his side wanted to win the third and the final Test of series, and that’s why they have changed their approach on the final Day, but unfortunately, the Delhi Test drawn against the hosts India. He also liked Team’s positive approach and credited it for their successful drew the series decider Test in Delhi.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Dinesh Chandimal told reporters, “Looking at the game today, we weren’t playing for a draw. That’s why we changed our approach. If we were coming to draw the game, I think we would have lost the game. I liked our approach.”

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Dhananjaya de Silva and Roshen Silva played a key role in Team’s drew, playing an outstanding knock of 119-runs and 74-runs respectively in their second innings against India which draws praise from the Lankan skipper.  

The skipper said, “Dhananjaya’s was a really good inning. We picked him after the West Indies ‘A’ tour as he had played some good innings there. We had trust in him at No 3 and he gave us a bowling option as well (off-spin). He grabbed the opportunity with both hands. It’s always tough for the team that vice-captain Thirimanne is not playing the game.”

Chandimal further added, “But Dhananjaya and Roshen Silva deserved an opportunity, especially Roshen – who has more than 6400 first-class runs. He’s scored heavily for the ‘A’ team, and Dhananjaya too. We got so many youngsters for this series. We’ve a really good attitude. Definitely, the best result will come. If you have good players with bad attitude, you won’t get good results.”

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He also stressed on the fact that the bowlers need to step it up to create a winning habit if they want to win Tests. Chandimal concluded by saying, “If we need to win a Test, we need to take 20 wickets. At the same time, you look at the Indian team. They’ve world class batsmen and bowlers. So, it’s tough for bowlers. And unfortunately, we missed our legend in this game (Rangana Herath). But the most important thing is the seamers gave their heart and soul. I’m sure they’ll come up with very good plans and a different approach for the next series.”

He finally concluded by saying that playing in the smoggy conditions in Delhi was tough for them and that they are not adjusted to that. "It was a tough time, the thing is, we aren't used to the pollution. That's why we struggled in the first two days, concluded Chandimal.