New look Sri Lanka… a force to be reckoned with in the T20 World Cup in Australia – by Trevine Rodrigo (eLanka Sports editor – Melbourne)
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A reinvented Sr Lanka wrote themselves into the history books with an incredible and unprecedented Asia Cup win, topping that off with back to back wins over world second ranked Pakistan.
The hitherto struggling island nation pulled off a jack-in-the-box performance in the desert nation of Dubai to stun not just their neighbouring nations but the rest of the world as they head off to the T20 World Cup in Australia.
A strife torn Sri Lanka erupted to emotional celebration as the Cricket mad nation went into a frenzied party mode. The worries of the country’s plight was on temporary hold as they celebrated the country’s triumph with wild abandon.
Social media and main stream media was abuzz with the country’s achievement which coincided with Sri Lanka’s women winning the Asia Cup netball in Singapore.
Another event that put the icing on the cake was a win by Sri Lanka’s cricket legends pulling off a win over Australia on the back of a Tillekeratne Dilshan century. They won by 38 runs.
Celebration time, back home, will be short but sweet as they re-strategise for different conditions in Australia and a tough gig of having to qualify for the big event where they have sent ripples through the top rungers.
They have already created quite a stir by knocking off qualifiers India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. And the rest in the top bracket will be in ominous expectation of how they cope with the inexperienced but new look challenge from a talented but unknown assailant.
Their performance in the Asia Cup has thrown a spanner in the works of the pre-tournament World T20 rankings with India still retaining their number one status, while Pakistan slipped to fourth from second, and Afganistan and Bangladesh pushed outside the top eight. Sri Lanka now progress to number eight.
Former England coach Chris Silverwood will be reviewing his disastrous last visit to Australia where he departed a shattered man at the helm of England.
But with the advantage of hindsight and the ability to be reflective of how things can be done better, his stance this time round will be to Sri Lanka’s benefit.
Silverwood, as I have stated in my pre Asia Cup triumph, appears to have jelled pretty quickly with his new charges apart from being a good luck charm to Sri Lanka cricket.
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Sri Lanka have importantly built a new found belief and confidence as a team. The chemistry right now is the best since the Mahela Jayawardena/ Kumar Sangakkara led Lankans and part of that reason could also be that there has been less chopping and changing of the squad.
The blend of youth and experience has also given birth to an exchange of ideas suited to the modern game making them a team hard to counter.
They surprised Asia with a squad that was almost unrecognisable apart from a few, but with the knowledge that there is a depth of talent and experience at their disposal if needed.
A Sri Lankan side with dependence on newcomers Pathum Nissanka, Bhanuka Rajapakse, Charith Asalanka, Wanindu Hasarsnga De Silva, and Maheesh Theeksheena outside Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya De Silva, Dinesh Chandimal, Chamika Karunaratne and skipper Dasun Shanaka makes for a potent line up that will challenge the best.
They have found depth, but not consistency, maturity will definitely deliver that, in their road to discovery in the upcoming T20 World Cup.
Favourites Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa and India will be wary of a new challenge to their established status in the World Cup.
For Sri Lanka, their new found respect signalls a long lost status that they commandeered not too long ago.
