I am pleased with my performance, says skipper Asalanka

Captaincy is not a pressure for me when I go to bat at number five I just go to middle  as a player and want to handle the situation said Sri Lanka white ball format skipper Charith Asalanka after the winning  the West Indies ODI series  at Pallekele.

Asalanka further said I am very pleased with my performance and I think the whole team performed really well to get this success and we won both T -20 and ODI series and main thing is momentum is on our side and team commitment was  very high throughout the series .

We  hope to do well in the next series as well. Hopefully we can stick to a similar lineup going forward but it can be changed according to the weather but make sure always play the  best  team for the match said skipper Charith Asalanka who was named player of the series in the West Indies ODI series.

We are happy that Sri Lanka won both T -20 and ODI series against West Indies. We have to  improve few areas  to win matches both home and away.

We had to battle with weather in this tournament. Especially last ODI we played first 17 overs according to 50 over game but rain interrupted  and we had to play five more overs and we can’t control this type of situation and all credit should go to two West Indies batters Evin Lewis and Sheferne Rutherford both  played good innings  to seal their only win of the series.

Evin Lews and the in-form Sherfane Rutherford  helped West Indies end this tour with a victory. Lewis, playing his first ODI since 2021, scored his fifth ODI century, and was limping as he hit the winning shot. Rutherford continued his tremendous form with yet another half-century.

Skipper Asalanka also pointed out due to wet condition we can’t get maximum results from the spinners. Spinners can’t bowl well with wet ball and West Indies spinners had to face same situation in first ODI. we have wrist spinners like Wanindu and Jeffrey Vandersay and finger spinners like Theekshana and Wellalage. Normally finger spinners can bowl with wet ball but two spinners Wanindu and Jeffrey also with their experience can bowl  in any situation.We had to get Theekshana ahead of Jeffrey Vandersay in the second game due to rain and that plan was well executed and that’s why we got success added Asalanka.

Actually I personally work hard to correct my batting errors. Always working with my coaches to develop my skills. I was not among the runs at last India series. I worked hard during the last NSL limited over tournament which paved the way to come back. I have to give credit to  Sri Lanka Cricket for organising a tournament like NSL which is very competitive  and I worked hard to get success from the NSL said Asalanka.

Nishan Madushka got his chance to perform first two matches and he had to sit on the bench last game and Pathum Nissanka our key opener came back to the side. Nissanka showed his class as an opener. Two spinners Jeffrey Vandersay and Dunith Wellalage also got a chance. myself, coach and Selectors are happy to see this type of competition at the team selections and it’s always good to pick best team for the game, said Asalanka. We have more options for the selections concluded skipper Charith Asalanka who gave fine leadership throughout the tournament.