Whatmore to root for his old boys on Sunday

‘‘They are both very good teams, but Sri Lanka have also peaked at the right time,’’ he said. ‘‘They have come back from Australia a far stronger side and have done well in this tournament, working well together. They have become competitive.’’

While India have a side that no one can ignore, they were also in the process of re-establishing their form and the Asia Cup may have come a week or two too soon for them.

This was despite their formidable top-six batting reputation and bowling attack that is still developing.

Whatmore did not have his contract renewed by Sri Lanka Cricket after the 2003 World Cup (after some of the players accused him of having run out of ideas).

But he did not hold back when coming out in support of Marvan Atapattu’s side here after losing to Pakistan on Thursday night and praised the way they had performed during the meet.

Especially the way they had tackled India in the game in Dambulla during the first phase of the tournament.

‘‘They have been the team of the tournament and I think it shows in the way they have gone about their game,’’ he said. ‘‘They played India earlier in the week without two of their top players and still pushed them so close. It was a game Sri Lanka came so close to winning.’’

Whatmore’s comments came after he admitted that Bangladesh’s Asia Cup tournament had been ‘‘a disappointment’’.

He, however, denied that the team had gone backward in terms of their international progress. ‘‘It would be fair to say that we have underachieved this tournament. It is not a matter of going back to any drawing board either but learning how to bat against the new ball,’’he said. ‘

‘We all know what the problem is; the team knows what the problem is. It is a matter of learning to adjust.’’