Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lank’s chief selector, has said that the side’s ODI series loss in India is “a bad dream” and he expects the side to bounce back in the forthcoming matches against England. Sri Lanka will host England for a seven-match ODI series, which starts in Colombo from November 26.

Jayasuriya with an interview with the ESPN admitted that a second-string bowling attack and the inability of the top order to score big runs were the main factors behind the heavy defeats in India.

“I was not expecting miracles for Sri Lanka to win the series in India and all that kind of thing. What I expected was good, competitive cricket,” Jayasuriya said. “If we are to play competitively, somebody had to bat a long innings like the Indian batsmen were doing. One of the top four needed to bat for 40 overs. Unfortunately it didn’t click, set batsmen got out. Overall, it was not the best performance but it’s a good experience for us.

“The full strength of our bowlers was not there. We got the second-string bowlers for the series. It’s not easy bowling in India, we all know that. We had to give those bowlers the exposure one day, otherwise we would never get a chance. With injuries to so many bowlers, we had to put them in.

“India is a bad dream and it is not the first time we have gone through a series like this. People will criticise and say a lot of things about the team that we should not have gone to India and all that. If we had done well everyone would have said that was a good experience for the team. It can happen either way.” He added.