Test Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne believes his players well-oiled to meet Aussie challenge
Sri Lanka’s T20 Skipper Dasun Shanaka announced that he was confident his side was well equipped to get the better of Australia in the 3-match series that gets underway tomorrow with the opening fixture tomorrow at the R. Premadasa International Stadium.
“We gained much playing Australia in their own backyard last time out and I’m confident that we are well geared in the batting and bowling to get the better of them with our home conditions in our favour,” said Shanaka this morning addressing the media at Colombo’s Cinnamon Grand Hotel.
He aired that ‘lots of our players have benefitted by playing in the recent IPL and that experience would be a leading edge to maximizing their potential when Sri Lanka locks horns with the Australians strong as they are. A positive factor for our players at the IPL is that they have gained the opportunity of flexing their muscles in gay abandon unlike back home where the domestic season has been plagued by the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in several players being laid down while the adverse weather has been a negating factor as well.’
“We do possess a world class bowling line-up and the batting is strong revolving around the likes of Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka and Dhanushka Gunathilaka,” the imaginative-right-hand all-rounder remarked. He was confident that the players at hand possessed the ability to take the challenge to the strong Aussies whom he acknowledged was a world beating side.
Shanaka had a special word of gratitude to all Sri Lankan cricket fans whose support for Sri Lanka Cricket could be gauged by the long queues to purchase their tickets he had witnessed while passing by.
While sounding that the inform Kusal Mendis would man the glove job behind the stumps, Shanaka praised his test colleague skipper Dimuth Karunaratne for the series success versus Bangladesh. “}The fast bowlers reveling on flat tracks was a tremendous effort despite the nature of the wickets, “ Shanaka added.
Shanaka will also lead the Lankan ODI side in the 5-match series that follows.
Meanwhile, Test captain Dimuth Karunaratne said that he and his players were buoyed by the recent success over Bangladesh. There had been a noteworthy change in their game especially in the batti9ng and bowling which was a positive factor his side would carry to the middle when they take on the Aussies in the two tests.
Moreover, the influence of new Head Coach, Chris Silverwood was an element that had raised their spirits. “The new head coach Chris Silverwood did make a difference by way of the success over Bangladesh. Chris proved to be a guiding light by prevailing on the players during panic moments. When we were in panic situations Chris’ influence to stay calm made a big difference in upping our game. I must say that the new head coach did infuse the necessary discipline and spirit in the boys to meeting whatever challenges we faced. His culture is different to our culture and I’m sure we have much more to learn from him,” he enthused.
Karunaratne said that on a personal note he believed that playing county cricket would raise his game in all formats.
