As Sri Lanka make yet another group stage exit from the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 – for the first time without a single win against their name – head coach Rumesh Ratnayake put it down to a combination of poor cricket in all three departments and buckling under the pressure of high expectations.

“There were no expectations in the last World Cup. This is not an excuse by any chance. And we came up, we beat South Africa, we beat Bangladesh and we did a reasonably good job in that World Cup and in this everybody expected us to be not the top dog but the top underdog,” Ratnayake said after Sri Lanka’s last group game in Sharjah on Saturday (October 12).

“And we were in this group where we had some very strong teams and we wanted to win those games. But I think the expectations got to the team. Life is such that you don’t realize it until things happen. So, that sort of thing went into the minds of the players also. In the last 48 hours to 60 – 72 hours, we were trying to work it out what really went wrong. That was the thing which I came to, and it’s a work in progress. We have to work on it so in future this will not happen again,” he added.

Sri Lanka came into the World Cup in UAE as the dark horses, making an already competitive group A tougher with their maiden Asia Cup 2024 title win three months in the lead up. A Chamari Athapaththu-inspired team had overhauled India’s 165/6 at Dambulla with eight balls to spare to script a record chase and stun the most successful team in Asian cricketing history.

This was following their two wins in the group stages of the 2023 World Cup in South Africa. This World Cup cycle saw some influential victories in the shortest format for the islanders, including a 2-1 maiden series wins in England and South Africa followed by an unbeaten run in the Qualifiers.

Against that backdrop, Sri Lanka were expected to give more teams a run for their money at the World Cup in spin-friendly conditions that closely resembled ones back home. However, their batting let them down on most occasions as they went down to each of the four opponents in the group by comprehensive margins to officially stand eliminated even before playing their final league game.

“It’s the mindset as well, and we failed in all three departments, which was a bit shocking because we had done well in all those three departments two months before. It wasn’t like anybody was overdone or jaded or anything like that even though we had this tour of Ireland just a month and a half back. But that’s no excuse. I mean, if you’re in the professional game, you have to be at it and you have to sort of go along with it. I believe that we failed in all three departments. We played very poor cricket,” the 60-year-old said.

“What happened was that winning the Asia Cup 2024 was a fabulous thing for the team and for the country. But, that expectation was from the country, from the people, and then as a team it built on us as well, very rightly so. I mean, I like the fact that it built on us so that we had this sort of confidence to go out there and sort of outsmart any team. But come to the tournament, in hindsight what I can say is that we did not play to the expectations. The reason being we took it too much upon ourselves. No excuse at all, but it’s just that the expectations are so much, I believe the team could not handle it the way in which I thought it could have happened. So those are the things which we have to sort of mend and we have to work on a better sound mindset in the future.”

Besides the work that’s required in building the winning mentality, efforts also need to multiply in strengthening pathways to build a steady pipeline.

“The pathways are sort of sorted out back home by the Institute and I believe those things are happening. But we have to recognize the fact that we don’t have match-ups, so to speak. We’ll say, okay, Chamari is a bit of a hard match-up, but if you take the others, even they, it’s not an easy replacement to have, even if you have the number two, three, four, five, six, seven, it will be hard.

“Similarly with the bowling. But we have to fasttrack that process. We have to make sure that we upscale them. Upscaling the standards of the player, upscale the potential of the player so that the player will be equipped to take part in tournaments like this or prior to that… So, well, it is a good eye opener for us, to make sure that we go around processing it fast and making sure that we upscale them to the best we could,” the former Sri Lankan pacer said.

As is the case with most transitioning teams, Sri Lanka’s inadequate domestic structure meant the players who did climb through the ranks were finding it difficult to sustain at the highest level.

“We’ve got a big difference between the first team, which is the national team, and the A team. But saying that, it’s a challenge for us to upscale them. I mean, what are we going to say? Are we going to cry over spilt milk sort of thing? No, we are not. That’s up to us. But we are heartened by the fact that amongst the under 19’s, we see some immense talent there coming through and which can even sort of match up and come into a level of the national team.

“But saying that we need to refurbish or upscale is the word I use all the time, upskill those A-team players to a level in which they have to come to a level with the coaches. So, we have to get together with the coaches, maybe we’ll have to do some more awareness programs, sort of skilled programs where we sort of make them more skilled in batting, bowling, and fielding and get it as close as possible. Otherwise, we’ll always have these issues. So, it has to be done sooner than later. And I would think the actual fruit will be seen in five years. But as a coach, you always want it happening tomorrow.”

The Sri Lankan team leaves with grim faces but also fondest memories of unparalleled support at both venues in the UAE. Though thick and thin, the expat Sri Lankan population in UAE turned out in decent numbers – especially in Sharjah, while the ICC even got on board the famous Papare Band that celebrated each and every success of the team – be it a fielding stop, a wicket, or, at times, even a single converted to two.

“We are very thankful that they came and supported us because I’ve been with the men and the support for the men is immense, when it’s a Sri Lankan support. And in the recent past I’ve seen that coming very close and almost matching the support. So, we are very, very thankful, we are very honoured that they come and support us. Even when losing, [the support] was very important and we really appreciate it and we are very sorry that we couldn’t keep to our expectations,” he signed off. (cricbuzz)