Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva has made it clear that he wants more from his fast-bowling unit, especially on home soil. While he acknowledges the efforts of bowlers like Lahiru Kumara and the steady consistency of Asitha Fernando, he believes the current attack lacks the depth, variety, and confidence needed to consistently trouble opposition batters in Sri Lankan conditions.

De Silva would ideally love to have two or three genuinely quick bowlers who can bowl over 140kph, but at the moment, only one such option exists within the Test setup. He pointed out that despite having promising quicks like Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madushanka, and Matheesha Pathirana in the system, injury management and limited-overs commitments have kept them away from red-ball cricket. Chameera, for instance, hasn't played a Test since 2021, as the team has chosen to preserve him for white-ball formats.

The captain also highlighted a worrying trend—over the past 15 years, only one Sri Lankan seamer has taken a five-wicket haul at home, while visiting fast bowlers have achieved that feat 14 times. This, he believes, reflects a lack of confidence among his pacers. He urged them to elevate their game by just a few percent, insisting that if they can learn to take wickets in Sri Lanka, they can succeed anywhere in the world.

Under his leadership, the team has consistently fielded two pace bowlers, a shift from the spin-heavy approach of the past. However, he admitted that no serious long-term plan has been discussed to broaden the pool of fast bowlers for multi-day cricket. He remains hopeful that the system will produce more talented quicks in the future, but for now, he is focused on getting the best out of the resources available and building a more balanced, attack-minded pace unit.