``The Sri Lankan boys did a wonderful job . The way they fought back, they didn't leave anything to chance. They tried everything and almost succeeded,'' said Gaekwad in a post-match interview after India had scrambled through to a three-wicket win to take a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series.
Gaekwad admitted that had his side been chasing something like 100 runs for victory, he would have been a ``very worried man''.
``In the circumstances, I was worried to a certain extent only because the total was not much to achieve. The tailenders would have managed to get 10-15 runs by snicking it here and there,'' he said.
``The way Sri Lanka fought back in the second innings is a message for our boys. We have to accept that we have to get better. We cannot go on playing like the way we did. We should have won the match more convincingly than we did,'' said the former Indian Test batsman and selector.
``Usually when you have a small target to chase,you normally tend to relax. That's what happened with our top order batsmen. They played bad shots and the pressure was on the later batsmen, who also crumbled,'' said Gaekwad.
India chasing 66 for victory finished on 68 for 7 with the main damage being done by Sri Lanka new ball bowlers Hemantha Boteju and Pradeep Hewage, who took all seven wickets between them.
The pair came for commendation from the Indian coach who said : ``They are really good potential. In time to come I am sure they will improve''.
Gaekwad however was not happy with his own bowling.
``I am a little worried with our spinners as well as our mediumpacers. We have to work on them, which we will be doing in due course. We are looking for a better contest in the next Test,'' he said.
The second under 19 Test commences at the Welagedera Stadium, Kurunegala on Friday.