Seniors taking ownership in Silverwood era - SL assistant coach

Sri Lanka are reaping the benefit of giving ownership to seniors under the new era of Chris Silverwood and co. When Dinesh Chandimal returned to the dressing room after scoring an unbeaten 118 after third day's play at Galle, he was reminded the job was still not done. The senior campaigner was inspired to take the responsibility on his shoulder and came up with his maiden double hundred, remaining not out on 206 runs.

Chandimal's innings not only helped Sri Lanka post a commendable total but also laid the platform to make a comeback and level the two-match Test series against Australia, with debutant left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya's magical bowling display (six wickets in each innings) ensuring a victory for the home team.

"When Chandi came at the end of the day after making a hundred and was going to bat the next day, our conversation was like: 'Chandi I want you to make your career best today. His previous best was 165 and so we were targeting to beat that, and once he beat that 165 and there was no stopping him," Sri Lankan assistant coach Naved Newaz told Cricbuzz on Tuesday (July 12), adding that the Silverwood-led coaching staff is trying to give the seniors importance and ownership of the team which will only motivate them to perform. "We made them feel like they own the team and you know the seniors have done such a good service for Sri Lanka cricket and there is lot of appreciation going around that. And it is shown to them as well so that they take ownership and they feel 'this is my own team that I need to play for'."

Ahead of the series, Sri Lanka Test skipper