By Srian Obeyesekere

It is in the acrid 2-0 test series smoking of Sri Lanka by Australia led by a highly resurgent captain Steve Smith whose bat has walked the walk on an as personal note comeback from the acrimony of losing the job a good seven years ago by a sandpaper ball tampering controversy, to the locals Charith Asalanka led charges 2-match take off tomorrow that the local captain
voiced that he had quite a compatible outfit at his disposal to getting the better of the Aussies.

Asalanka raised hope for Sri Lankans his team derived the necessary firepower from having thrashed Rohit Sharma’s Indians back home in the tail end of 2024 and also beaten New Zealand 2-0 in their own backyard. “Those are strong positive performances that we consider plus points to go forward on a high against strong Australia,” he added.

He regretted that Sri Lanka had failed to qualify for the Champions Trophy, but what was gone was gone.

“It is a highly regrettable matter that we are out of the mega Champions Trophy, but nothing can be done about it now. We have to move on and look to coming back strongly to contention to once again winning a major trophy like another world cup or Champions Trophy,” he said.

Meanwhile, Australian captain Steve Smith said that his team was looking. to doing well in Sri Lanka as a stepping stone to the bigger picture mainly the Champions Trophy.