“We are very satisfied with the win,” Dhananjaya said. “There are many areas for us to improve, and I have talked about those with the team and the coaches are working towards that. If we can learn day by day and raise our game by 1%, we can make winning a habit. When we came to Bangladesh, we know it was going to be good for the batsmen. Their idea is always to get runs. They were disappointed because they didn’t get runs in Sylhet. But they came back, and it was pretty easy for me to handle the other things.”
“These are the best players for Test cricket in Sri Lanka,” he said. “They’ve been performing in the domestic arena as well. Kamindu had to wait a little while. He got a fifty in his first innings, but when the replacement came in he had to go back. But he has been practicing well.”
Sri Lanka are shaping up a batting unit that doesn’t necessarily have to only depend on the experienced trio of Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal, and Angelo Mathews. The captain however wants them to continue for a long time, as they also help him in leading the Test side.
“They have been great servants for Sri Lanka for a lot of years,” Dhananjaya said. “I don’t know how long they will play. I’d love to play with them for 3-4 years into the future. They have been performing well in the past and they have been great in these series as well.
“They didn’t interfere with my captaincy. They just give me their ideas. It is very helpful in Tests, because you have to play five days. Sometimes my mind goes here and there, so getting that advice from them is very valuable.”
Dhananjaya’s captaincy also stood out during this Test series. He embraced the conditions in Sylhet which favoured the fast bowlers. He said it excited him more. He also handled Bangladesh’s fast bowling well as a batter. In a more batting-friendly Chattogram, he devised tight fields to keep the Bangladesh run rate down. It worked wonders as the fast bowlers responded well too.
Some also observed that Dhananjaya didn’t shy away from being a tough taskmaster with his team-mates when needed. “Sometimes you have to be a little aggressive. In a country like this where you are playing in heat, sometimes some players get lethargic.
“But if in the field me or someone else dives around a little bit and makes a good stop, everyone gets a little boost. I’m trying to keep the other 10 players in the game. I’m not saying I need to be harsh, but I do think you need to have a bit of aggression when you lead,” Dhananjaya said.