Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka has called for a structural reset after his side's semifinal hopes ended with a 61-run loss to New Zealand in Colombo. He stressed that fitness standards and long-term planning must improve if the team is to compete consistently at global events.

"I think fitness should be number one when playing for a country," Shanaka said. "Because that's unnegotiable. If we look at the injuries, it's very hard to get the outcome we are thinking of. Everyone knows how good Wanindu Hasaranga is, and how important Matheesha Pathirana and Eshan Malinga are. When we don't have these players, I'm not saying it's an excuse. Most of the injuries are related to physical fitness. There are some players unable to be in the team due to fitness issues. We talk about this all the time. I think it has to be the same for all the players."

He pointed out that recurring injury concerns have followed Sri Lanka across multiple global tournaments.

"I played all past five World Cups, excepting one World Cup, this was the topic that has been spoken in all the other World Cups. Injuries, injuries, how do we do better in those."

For Shanaka, the issue extends beyond fitness to planning cycles and clarity of direction. "If we are going to a World Cup plan, we should go to long-term goals, it's hard for us to play a tournament like this with short term goals," he said.

"As a captain, I have no idea how long I will be the captain, it's decided by the selectors, by Sri Lanka Cricket. But I'm happy that I had this opportunity for this long time. I had many good decisions, and also, I have made mistakes as well. Actually, I'm happy that I could play a World Cup as a captain."

Shanaka insisted the squad had been picked with the expectation of better batting surfaces, but conditions did not play out as anticipated, particularly at the R. Premadasa Stadium.

"Before the start of the tournament, I mentioned that I expected the wickets to be good," Shanaka said. "The best batsmen in Sri Lanka are here. Players with good strike rates and ability have been picked from domestic cricket. No one is forced to play cricket here. We also want to do something for the country.

"So honestly, we are very sorry for what happened. No one goes out there to fail. Everyone goes with the intention of playing well and winning for the team. Unfortunately, we don't always get the conditions we want. Sometimes we lose games because of small changes we don't even think about. We are very sad about that as players."

While acknowledging that power-hitting remains an area of concern, Shanaka said success in Sri Lanka also requires adapting to surfaces rather than relying solely on brute force.

"When considering power hitting, yes, there is a lack of power hitting across Sri Lanka," he said. "But we have to play according to the conditions here. We have to check how much power hitting is needed for those conditions. In Pallekele, sometimes we get good wickets and power hitting is helpful there. On a wicket like this, we expected it to be good.

"But on a wicket like today, power hitting is not that important. Reverse sweeps and sweeps are. Kamindu Mendis came in at a difficult time and used his reverse sweeps and sweeps well. Dunith Wellalage is the same. We have to fight with these conditions often in Sri Lanka, and that's normal. When bowlers make mistakes in such conditions, it's hard for us to stop other teams. Power hitting should be there, but in these conditions it's also about how the team management picks the side."

Reflecting on the disappointment of exiting the World Cup as co-hosts with still a Super Eights match to go, Shanaka admitted the team had fallen short of expectations and apologized to the fans who have turned up to the venues in huge numbers.

"We feel very sorry about this," he said. "The England match was one we could have won. I'm not saying that, but if we were more sensible, we could have won it. This match was one-sided, even though the bowling was done well. For the spectators, I don't have anything to tell. We have not given them a win to be happy about."

He also addressed the external scrutiny surrounding the side and the impact of "negativity" on players.

"Everyone wanted to reach the semifinals. I think we didn't do enough to reduce the negativity," Shanaka said. "Their negativity is fair, but in humanity we are also players. We also want to win all the time and give a good outcome to the country. Unfortunately, nothing worked well for us at the moment. We are very sorry about that."

"Paddy Upton worked with us and gave huge support. But as players, it's very hard to control the outside noise. Most of the time we hear negative stuff. No matter how positive we are, a negative environment is created from outside. That's a disadvantage for cricket in Sri Lanka. We lost a World Cup and we know the reasons. We all have concerns. But negativity has come forward more than rectifying the issues. For the players coming up next, if the government could interfere and stop those things, it would be a great help for better mental health."

Despite elimination, Shanaka said the team must close the tournament on a positive note. "No matter the problems we have, we have to go very positively as a team. It's very important to finish a World Cup well as a team because it gives momentum for the next tournament."