Sri Lanka captain Marvan Atapattu blamed his team's failure in the just-concluded Test series against India on the inability to capitalise on the chances they received in the second and third Tests.
India were in trouble in both the innings of the third Test in Ahmedabad, being reduced to 99 for 5 and 100 for 5 in the two innings, but the lower order came good for the home team each time.
"We didn't really capitalise on the chances that we got here and in New Delhi. However, we can't take anything away from the Indian lower order, especially their batting against Muttiah Muralitharan," Atapattu said after India won the third and final Test by 259 runs, in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
He also added that Irfan Pathan, who scored 202 runs in the series at 40.40, had handled Muralitharan the best among the Indian batsmen.
He said the Indian spinners, Anil Kumble (20 wickets) and Harbhajan Singh (14 wickets) enjoyed the best of conditions after India won the two important tosses, in Ahmedabad and New Delhi.
"Their spinners got a bit more bounce than our spinners, which proved crucial."
Sri Lanka's coach Tom Moody said his team "just didn't compete on all five days".
"We have been caught napping for two- three days and it made all the difference. Though we lost the two Tests matches, we have not been thrashed. We had India on the ropes in both the Tests, but we failed to capitalize," Moody said.
The Australian said the young team can learn from this experience and hope not to repeat the mistakes the next time they tour the country.
