Sri Lanka coach Trevor Bayliss on Friday made a candid confession that his team would have required 20 fielders to stop Virender Sehwag when the India opener went hammer and tongs after their bowlers.
Sehwag dominated day two of the third and final Test with an unbeaten 284 off 239 balls and nearly became the first cricketer to score three triple hundreds before falling seven-run shy of the mark this morning.
"Today Sehwag was out probably through exhaustion. In this innings it didn't matter what we did. We changed plans, we changed the length we bowled, but he was still about to hit the ball wherever he wanted," Bayliss said.
"It was one of those days where we wanted 20 fielders because he hit the ball so well," said the astounded coach.
Asked whether it was the best knock he had ever seen, Bayliss said, "I cannot remember too many more hard-hitting (innings). His ball striking was good to watch."
Sri Lanka finished the day 11 for no loss, still trailing the hosts by 322 runs but Bayliss felt his team possessed the quality of batsmen needed to save the Test.
{{/usCountry}}Sri Lanka finished the day 11 for no loss, still trailing the hosts by 322 runs but Bayliss felt his team possessed the quality of batsmen needed to save the Test.
{{/usCountry}}"We are obviously a fair way behind. We got some hard work in front of us. But the wicket is playing well and our batting has been good throughout the series. We will look to bat well tomorrow and see where we are tomorrow night," said the Australian.