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Tuesday, 7 May 2019 00:03 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Madushka Balasuriya
At 66/1, Sri Lanka are rank outsiders to win the Cricket World Cup. The last time they were this unfancied was in 1996. We all know what happened then, but a victory for this team - despite the ’96 side having the exact same pre-tournament odds - somehow seems even more of a long shot.
For starters, more than a third of the present team haven’t played ODI cricket over the last two years, while the captain himself hasn’t played an ODI since the last World Cup in 2015. The results on the field only compound matters, with Sri Lanka in the midst of one of its worst-ever runs in limited overs cricket, having lost each of their last eight ODIs. The country meanwhile is reeling from the aftermath of the tragic Easter Sunday attacks, which left more than 250 people dead.
At moments like this, it’s understandable if sportsmen begin to question the importance of their craft; sports, often times made to seem like life and death, becomes anything but. But for Sri Lanka, tragically, there is precedence for this sort of thing. In 1996, too, the country was under the cloud of terrorism, following the LTTE-orchestrated Central Bank bombing.
These parallels weren’t lost on those in attendance at Sri Lanka Cricket headquarters yesterday, as the team prepared to depart for England.
“I believe that this World Cup is more important than ever. As a country, what we can do now is to get behind the players and the sport we love. It’s at moments when things are hardest that we must come together, and I believe that this team has what it takes to do well at the world cup,” stated Sports Minister Harin Fernando.
“Even when we won the World Cup in 1996, we were not among the favourites. Back then also, the last series we had played we had lost 5 games, while it was the LTTE that had set off a bomb at the Central Bank. I saw it written somewhere that back then we had the LTTE, and now we have ISIS. But the two situations are the same; like Arjuna Ranatunga led the team back then, I believe that this team is capable of rallying behind the leadership of Dimuth Karunaratne.”
The team were set to fly out in the early hours of today, with a little over three weeks until their opening game against New Zealand in Cardiff on 1 June. Prior to that, they will take part in an eight-day training camp and play four practice matches. The two official World Cup warm-up games against South Africa and Australia will be played on 24 and 27 May respectively, while SLC has also arranged a further two games against Scotland on 18 and 21 May.
With preparations at home understandably disrupted by the April’s bomb blasts, these coming three weeks hold more significance than most. However, Captain Dimuth Karunaratne believes his team are focused on the task at hand.
“All the players are in a good mental space. All of the players are looking forward to going to England and showcasing their talents to help the team succeed,” stated Karunaratne. “Yes, this is a very different squad to the one I had in South Africa, but the players have been very good with me. There are several experienced as well as newer faces, but all of them have been freely voicing their ideas, and I welcome that.”
With Sri Lanka coming into the tournament at one of its lowest ever ODI rankings (9th), many onlookers have unsurprisingly given the team little chance of success. While the team have never been favourites for world cricket’s biggest prize, this is the first time since the halcyon days of 1996 that the team are genuine underdogs. For Coach Chandika Hathurusingha however, the outside perception of his side is of little concern.
“I don’t think it [the underdog status] helps, nor does it put us under any undue pressure. We are a very resilient nation, and we were in a similar situation in 1996. Nobody gave us a chance. So whether we’re favourites or whether we’re not favourites, how we prepare, how we talk to the boys, how my coaching staff prepares them, is the same,” stated Hathurusingha.
“I know the fans and everybody else watching can think of it that way, but as players we have to go out and execute on the day. I think this team has enough talent that if we execute our game plan to the best of our ability, we can go a long way.”
