SL batting coach Rathour: We can overcome power-hitting woes by finding more fours

Sri Lanka fell to a home series defeat to England on Sunday following their six-wicket loss in a rain-shortened T20I in Pallekele. Despite that, batting coach Vikram Rathour feels the team's batting unit are nevertheless heading in the right direction.

"I think we were better today definitely, we showed better intent, better decision against spin," Rathour said after the game. "So yeah, it is a work in progress, but we are getting better definitely."

Before rain truncated the game midway through England's chase on Sunday, Sri Lanka had batted out their allotted 20 overs and racked up 189 for 5 - just their fifth T20I score of 180-plus since the end of the 2024 T20 World Cup. For many, this might indicate a distinct lack of power-hitting prowess, something Rathour has put down to the types of pitches Sri Lanka have largely played on during this period. However, he believes that there are other components to T20 batting that Sri Lanka can focus on to remain effective.

"I would say the surfaces here are not that conducive to power hitting as well," Rathour said. "Especially when you play in Colombo, it is not an easy surface to hit sixes because it is pretty slow and the ball does not come on to the bat.

"I think there are two components to T20 batting. One is power hitting of course… the other component, or as important a component, is range as a batting unit. I think that is where Sri Lanka can excel.

"If you are not a power hitter - the team that hits a lot of sixes - you can hit a lot of fours if you utilise the whole ground. All of them sweep well, most of them can reverse sweep, they use their feet. That is a good thing. If you are not having the power hitting range, then if you can start utilising the whole ground, all the angles, you can make up for that. These wickets maybe suit the batters to do that more. If they can use their feet and use the angles well and score runs square of the wicket, that is as good."

One batter who particularly impressed Rathour with his use of the feet was Pavan Rathnayake. The 23-year-old, who came into the game with a strike rate of just 100 across 35 previous T20s, struck 40 off 22 to help boost a flagging Sri Lankan innings.

"He is batting really well at the moment, so one of the better players as far as the using of feet is concerned, I think. I haven't seen too many players in this generation using their feet as well as he is doing, so that is really impressive. He again batted well today, so good sign for Sri Lankan cricket I think."

There were also kind words directed towards Sri Lanka's misfiring captain Dasun Shanaka, who had been pushed up the order to No. 5 but misread an Adil Rashid googly just six deliveries into his innings. His is a high-risk, high-impact role, but one Rathour believes it's worth persevering with if Sri Lanka want to put up above par totals.

"We tried something different with him because normally, whenever he gets into bat, he is a great finisher. He is the best finisher in the team. That is his designated role. We wanted to give him an opportunity when there was no pressure on him," said Rathour by way of explaining Shanaka's promotion. "Because what is happening with him is that we want him to not get out and also hit. So, that is sometimes tough to do. Today was an opportunity to give him freedom to go and play his game and play freely. Unfortunately, he got out.

"But that was something we tried as a batting unit and we might do that again sometime, because I think he is a really, really impressive stroke player and if he comes good at that position, you could have put up a par plus score actually."

Concerns however remain over Sri Lanka's propensity to collapse after a good start. In the first T20I having got to 76 for 1 after seven overs, Sri Lanka folded for 133. On Sunday, their third wicket fell in the 13th over with the score on 128, and eventually it was only Rathnayake's intervention that saw the side put up what they did as the innings threatened to unravel at the behest of England's spin through the middle overs.

"That is where the work is being done, that is what we are working on at the moment," said Rathour in response to Sri Lanka's tendency to flag mid-innings. "We have been getting good starts, but then we haven't been exploiting that start in the middle overs. That is the area we are working on and we are having a lot of discussions.

"I think we need to be smarter with our game plans against them, we need to pick the right balls to play right shots, shot selection needs to be better. All those discussions are taking place and they are practising all the things that we are discussing in the net, so we are hoping that better results will come. Today I thought we were a lot better than the previous games. It is a work in progress and we will keep working on that."

This fragile underbelly has also had a knock-on effect whereby Sri Lanka are playing an extra batter in place of fifth frontline bowling option. Rathour conceded that this plan had backfired on Sunday when Eshan Malinga pulled up injured with a concerning shoulder injury, leaving Sri Lanka a bowler short.

"I think we have got really good bowling attack, three or four bowlers who are really good bowlers in T20 cricket," he said. "So, because the batting hasn't been doing well, so I think we want to have that cushion of one extra batter, and with Dasun [Shanaka] there, and a couple of guys who can bowl spin, I think we are well placed, even with four bowlers.

"Unfortunately today Eshan [Malinga] got injured, so that's a lesson for us also, that when you go with four bowlers and if one of them gets injured, that can get a little tricky. So yeah, something to learn from."