Pothas looking for his team to show character

Sri Lanka coach Nic Pothas said his side must show more character as they went down to another big defeat against Pakistan in the first T20I in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.

After suffering a five-nil ODI series loss against the same opponents, Sri Lanka were bundled out for just 102 in the first of three T20Is.

Pakistan went on to easily win the game by seven wickets and are firm favourites to take the series in the second T20I on Friday at the same venue.

Sri Lanka won the Test series on the tour to the UAE and Pothas said the Sri Lanka team in the longest format had gutsy cricketers.

Pothas said: “I can only think of one word which is character. In the Test side, Kaushal Silva if you take, you can’t put a value on Kaushal Silva.

“People will look and say that he didn’t get many runs. He gets 20 in 79 balls and he makes life a lot easier for the middle order.

“He dries peoples’ gloves, he is there to support people, and he dives around the field and saves a million runs.

“You take that guy anywhere with you, in white ball cricket, we are looking at people who can do similar stuff. We are looking for that kind of team man.”

After the second T20I, Sri Lanka will head to Lahore to play the final T20 on Sunday.

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