India tour good education for Sri Lanka: Pothas

Sri Lanka ended their tour of India with just one win across formats. They gave India a mighty scare in Kolkata in the first Test but suffered a massive defeat in Nagpur to concede the series lead. They fought hard in the third Test in Delhi to salvage a draw where conditions were against them to show they can challenge India in India.

Their win in the Dharamsala ODI meant suddenly there was plenty at stake for the hosts in Mohali. However, things just went from bad to worse from there on for the visiting side. They lost the ODI series 1-2 and then the Twenty20 International series 0-3.

Nic Pothas, however, stressed that the tough tour will only help their players get better. "Any tour to India is going to be though. From an education point of view and our players point of view, I think everyone will leave from here a better player. They'll now understand mentally what they need to improve or physically what they need to work on," he said after the T20I in Mumbai on Sunday (December 24).

"There are certainly a lot of things we need to work on but everyone will leave this tour in a better place and have a better understanding of their own game. Once you've gone through a series like this, there are only two ways to go. Either you are going to fall off the bus or you are going to become a better player. The characters will be tested and this series for us will answer who the tough characters are."

Sri Lanka are set to see a number of changes ahead of their tour to Bangladesh. Chandika Hathurusingha will take over as head coach and he's already planning the road ahead. Pothas felt this tour will bring out the best from his players when they play against Bangladesh.

"I think it'll only get better," he stated. "You've started to see some good performances. We have been good in patches. I would probably say that in the first T20 we didn't compete at all. In the second T20 there were two fantastic innings played and it's hard to follow that up. But then we also had a couple of good innings where we competed as well. We certainly competed here.

"When you take a game this close a little rub of the green here and there and the game can go your way. MS [Dhoni] gets a faint edge, or gets a leading edge back to the bowler, and you are in the game. Satisfied with where we are heading and this is certainly going to stand us in a good stead in the next tour to Bangladesh."

After the second ODI, Kusal Perera had admitted the Sri Lanka batsmen were struggling against India's wrist spinners. When they travel to Bangladesh, they are certain of facing more trial by spin but Pothas felt the batsmen showed they can compete against quality spinners.

"When someone bowls with the same action and can get the ball to go both ways, it makes it tough for anybody," he pointed out. "They have to be of quality. You can just pick anyone who is a wrist spinner. In the last game we took both spinners for more than 50. Obviously we were chasing 200 and plenty so they had to opportunity to pick wickets. But there was time, when we got positive against them and we were competitive."

Pothas, who played all his cricket in South Africa, also went on to mention that India are going to give a stern challenge to the South Africans in the upcoming tour.

"They've got all bases covered. If you provide them with a green wicket, they've got the bowling to knock over other batting lineups. If you give them a flat wicket, they've got those bases covered. I watched the interview that Ravi did and he rightly said it's going to be batting vs batting. If the Indian batsmen score runs, then South Africa are going to find it very tough," he said.

"In one-day cricket they are just an elite unit. It doesn't hurt them to make too much changes. MS has closed out games for them a lot. He's the best in that. Tonight Hardik has a chance. They are looking towards the future and trying to build a team with guys who can take it ahead from the experienced players.

"They are a great team to watch and they are a great team to learn from. They are a great team for our players to learn from," Pothas concluded.