Aravinda de Silva blasts Lankan bowling

Veteran batsman Aravinda de Silva, on the verge of retirement after his recent omission from the national squad, blamed Sri Lanka's bowlers and fielders for their seven-wicket defeat by India in the second Test Kandy.

De Silva, writing for the wicket.com, said: "Sri Lanka's bowlers were unable to disrupt the Indian batsmen's concentration and delivered too many four balls, which enabled them to score far more freely than should have been the case."

"The Sri Lankan bowling also failed to respond to the challenge, with the main attack force, especially Muralitharan, failing to get as much turn out of surface as he normally does in the fourth innings," he said. "The seamers were just as disappointing in their length and direction."

De Silva, not the sharpest in the field, went on to criticise the home sides fielding: "Sri Lanka's patchy fielding effort did not help, with too many catches being dropped at crucial stages of the innings. It was so unlike Muttiah Muralitharan to drop a catch at a crucial moment."

"It was also disappointing to see Russel Arnold, one of the more brilliant fielders in the side, dropping an easy catch which could have changed the whole course of the match," he added.

De Silva pointed out, however, that Sri Lanka were unlucky: "Sri Lanka also had their moments of misfortunes. There were several confident appeals for leg-before decisions, which did not earn the umpires approval."

He did, though, comment that: "Compared to the previous match in Asgiriya in March against England, the umpiring was of a far higher standard in this game."