We can look to the future with confidence, says Asalanka

Sri Lanka has climbed to No. 5 in the ICC ODI rankings following their dominant 174-run victory over Australia, sealing a 2-0 series win at home. This marks Sri Lanka’s biggest-ever win against Australia and extends their unbeaten home ODI series record since the 2023 Asia Cup.

The team will now take a break from international cricket before hosting Bangladesh in June. With Sri Lanka missing out on the 2025 Champions Trophy, the focus will be on rebuilding and preparing for future tournaments. Skipper Charith Asalanka wanted to go forward with confidence. The skipper really appreciated their supporting staff for this success.

Before the Australia series Sri Lanka on ranking number 6 and now moved to five with back to back two wins over Australia. India on top place while Australia went down to number 3 with Sri Lanka series defeat. South Africa moved to number 6 while Pakistan moved to number 2 behind India.

Skipper Charith Asalanka  who  also the Player of the Australia series said about his batting   “There is no “mantra”. I just wanted to score big hundreds and get three-four wickets from each man.My main role is to bat and make runs to build up innings .Our coach Sanath Jayasuriya always encouraged me to bowl and  all rounder role aways good for the team. All players played with good commitment to get success and workd hard  for this achievement added Asalanka.

Clearly the pitch had low bounce in the second ODI  than the last game. No seam movement. But a good pitch. Kusal Mendis and Nishan Madushka set the platform for us. Australia also bowled well but it was our day. Both matches went really well. Both matches Asalanka won the toss and opted to bat first. When I go to bat, I don’t think about captaincy. I am a No. 5 batter for the team. Talking about Champions trophy Asalanka said It is disappointing to miss Champions Trophy. But don’t need to look back and think much. But we should not repeat the mistakes and look forward to such form.”

The recent series at home we did really well to get success and the victory against world champions Australia gave big boost to us for the next World Cup journey. As a captain I always give confidence to the players. We wanted to go forward with ractify our mistakes. The first ODI agsinst  Australia our top order strugglde but second game top order back to  form and our plans very well executed said skipper Charith Asalanka. Australia packed with three seniors Travis Head, Joes Inglis and Glenn Maxwell for the second game  but Sri Lankan bowlers really controlled the game and Aussies were struggling 107 in 24.2 overs and Sri Lanka recodred huge 174 runs win to make clean sweep.

Australia captain Steve Smith said “We have been outplayed in these last two games. We keep moving forward, credit to Sri Lanka, they played well in these surfaces.  their bowlers did exceptionally well. These wickets skidded more than the Test wickets. It has been a fun time here in Sri Lanka. Some great memories made in the last few weeks and want to get ready for Champions trophy tournament said Asutralia skipper Smith.

Australia batsmen were struggling in both matches especially Asitha Fernando did  early damage in  both matches followed by spinners Dunith Wellalage, Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana did bowl well to pick up wicksts at regular intervals.

Source:Daily News