'Below par': Sri Lanka coach tears into his team after disappointing loss against India

Indian team ended their long trophy drought as they defeated Sri Lanka to lift the Asia Cup for a record 5th time. Mohammed Siraj pulled off a blinder as his six-wicket haul helped India to decimate the Island nation on their soil. Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill barely had any problems as they guided India to a 10-wicket victory.

3 things you need to know

• India have now lifted their 8th Asia Cup title
• Mohammed Siraj's spell is the best ever by an Indian bowler in Asia Cup
• This is Rohit Sharma's second Asia Cup title as a captain

Chris Silverwood opens up on Sri Lanka's disappointing performance 

The match got delayed due to rain but Mohammed Siraj had some other plans. The Royal Challengers Bangalore pacer took his stride in Colombo and ran through the Sri Lankan batting lineup on a bowling friendly surface. Siraj's first victim was Pathum Nisssanka and soon Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva and Dasun Shanaka went back to the pavilion.

Also Read: 'Miyaan, Miyaan...': Cricket world explodes Siraj blows away Sri Lanka with 5-wicket haul

Sri Lankan coach Chris Silverwood admitted there were some positives in the tournament but losing in the final in such way was disappointing.

It is below par. The way we got dismissed is very disappointing, think there's a lot of reflection to be done in the dressing. I think today we've come up against a very high class bowling attack, thought Siraj was superb. At the same time I think we made our own life difficult as well. We came in here with some of the younger bowlers, some of whom have shone.

In the batting we've seen Sadeera come through, we've seen some good stuff in there. But today it's been disappointing. I'm sure there'll be a lot of questions asked, but best to assess it in the morning when the emotions have calmed down.

Also Read: Asia Cup: Mohammed Siraj bowls dream spell as India win first title in multi-nation event since 2018

India to take on Australia ahead of ODI World Cup 2023

India will now face Australia in a three match ODI series before putting their socks off for the upcoming ICC ODI Cricket World Cup. On the back of theoir exemplary victory in the Asia Cup final the expectations will further exceeded as the urge to lift an ICC trophy should prove to be a major inspiration for Team India.