Sri Lanka confronts Nepal in familiar territory

Sri Lanka fast bowlers Dushmantha Chameera, Asitha Fernando, and Dilshan Madushanka at practice at Lauderhill, venue of today’s game against Nepal 

• Sri Lanka is one of the bowling sides which can challenge anyone – Aaqib Javed

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

As the fast bowling coach of the Sri Lanka team, former Pakistan fast bowler Aaqib Javed will be quite happy the way the Lankan quicks have gone about their business in the two matches played so far in Group D of the T20 World Cup.

But the core of Sri Lanka’s problems lies not with the fast bowlers or with the rest of the bowling line up, but with their batting, which has failed to put enough runs on the board for the bowlers to capitalise and thereby resulted in two back to back defeats at the hands of South Africa and Bangladesh. The defeats have been a setback to Sri Lanka as they have only faint hopes of qualifying for the next stage of the World Cup which is the Super Eights.

Sri Lanka are currently without a win in their group and will look towards opening their account when they take on Nepal today at a venue they are familiar with Lauderhill in Florida where they played their two warm-up matches against the Netherlands and Ireland.

Sri Lanka made scores of 161 and 163-8 in the two matches, but they will need to score more than that if they are to improve their net run rate and also win big against Nepal, a team they have not met in white ball cricket. Both teams are coming to this game without a single win behind them.

Aaqib said Sri Lanka’s best is enough to beat anyone at the tournament, though it will be handling the pressure, this time as clear favourites that will go towards proving their credentials.

“When you are playing any international game, there is always a pressure. But now the players and the batters and bowlers, they know that on these pitches you don’t need to try much. Just play the basic, basic game. Best plan to bowl on this pitch, they just hit the deck hard. That’s it. No experiments. You can’t take anything easy, the team which keep their discipline and play their A game, that is important and we hope for the best, and the best team should win whoever plays the better cricket.”

“The beauty of this World Cup is that you cannot take anything easy. We have seen some outstanding results from the associate teams. Honestly if you look at the pitch, you have to be very careful especially as a batter how to adapt, what to leave out. The best plan is to go out there, assessing the situation and the conditions are the key.”

As bowling coach of the team Aaqib said he was enjoying his role because in his opinion this is one of the bowling sides which can challenge anyone.

“It’s an ideal combo for any international team. You’ve got the best leggie in the world, you got a mystery bowler, and you got slingers which is very unique and very effective in T20 cricket. The Sri Lankan bowling attack is known for their natural talent and the ability to do what other teams cannot. Many teams don’t have the kind of talent they have. You can’t say anything in cricket but see the Sri Lankan bowling is quite difficult to handle.”

Stating the Sri Lanka team’s mentality after two defeats Aaqib said: “If you ask me, what happened in New York, nobody knew what’s going to be the wicket behaviour. 77 was never enough. Even in the second game, we could have scored 150 to 160 if you look at the batting card. We scored like 100 in 14 overs and the last six overs, we didn’t capitalise as we should have. Otherwise, the way the captain and the team fought on the field and in the bowling, I think the morale is there and the spirit is there. It’s just one missed opportunity. If you want to judge anyone how they feel, just see them how they bowl and how they field.”

Meanwhile, Nepali captain Rohit Paudel said that he was excited to play in front of strong Nepali support, with the pressure on the opposition, and on a wicket with potential to help his batters.

“I think team Sri Lanka is under more pressure than us. I believe that the conditions in Florida and the wicket is very good. We believe that it will be a high-scoring and good game. We want to go tomorrow and express ourselves and grab that first win for us.”