Test skipper Dinesh Chandimal was in full praise of Sri Lankan fighting spirit, which led them to, after learning from the mistakes, a series whitewash over Pakistan in the two-match Test series in UAE.

Three months ago, Sri Lanka was facing the very same agony against a visiting Indian team, who whitewashed them in all nine matches of that tour. Chandimal believes that team management has changed the gears ever since in both on and off the field.

He said “We are over the moon. Those were tough times for everyone but we learn a lot of things from that India series as a team and as individuals. The main thing is our attitude and it makes a lot of difference so everyone put their heart and soul in the practices, so when they come to the match they did well.”

Chandimal added “It was a tough series against India but we learned a lot from it. The boys executed the game plan really well in this series. We knew when we came today that Dilruwan [Perera] and Rangana [Herath] would do the job.”

The 2-0 result in the series was enough for Sri Lanka to displace Pakistan from number six in the Test ranking as the hosts are now placed seventh. Off-spinner Dilruwan Perera registered a figure of 5/98 in the second innings, which led them to win the second match. Skipper also praised this effort while speaking after his first series win as captain.

“We knew Dilruwan was struggling in the Indian series. He did not take any wickets so before we came here we spoke to him and gave him confidence and he was successful,” he said.

Now, both teams will play five-match One-Day International series from 13 October to 23 October.