Winning a World Cup will be the greatest achievement of my life – Athapaththu

•  Biggest responsibility is to ensure Sri Lanka qualify for T20 World Cup
• Play Thailand in first match today

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Sri Lanka Women’s Cricket Captain Chamari Athapaththu said that her biggest responsibility was to ensure Sri Lanka qualify for the ICC T20 World Cup in Bangladesh and then try and qualify for the final of the big event.

Sri Lanka take on Thailand in their opening match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier at the Tolerance Oval today and Athapatthu is of the view this game is important because Thailand is one of the good sides in the tournament.

“We have to play this tournament with a lot of thought,” said 34-year-old Athapaththu in a virtual media conference yesterday. “If we put the favourite tag into our heads we will be creating unnecessary pressure amongst ourselves. We have played some good cricket so far and defeated sides like England, New Zealand and South Africa. We won these matches because we played good cricket on that day. This is a new tournament, the opposition is different and the conditions are different, so it is important we play well on the day.”

Sri Lanka are in Group A with Thailand, Scotland, Uganda and USA. The top two teams in the two groups go through to the semi-finals and the two finalists will qualify for the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh.

Athapaththu said that it was unfortunate that Sri Lanka find themselves having to qualify for the T20 World Cup.

“We played well in the last T20 World Cup but because Bangladesh is hosting the 2024 T20 World Cup it became like a lottery for them to gain automatic qualification. At the same time we were also low in the ICC rankings because we had not played many matches. These two factors are the reasons we have to play in the Qualifier,” said Athapaththu.

“But by doing so we are getting the opportunity to play some matches ahead of the T20 World Cup. From that point I am looking at it in a positive way. All the teams have come to qualify for the T20 World Cup so we cannot underestimate any of them. In this format any game can change within one or two overs or wickets. In T20 cricket any team can defeat any side. My biggest responsibility is to ensure we qualify for the T20 World Cup and then try to qualify for the final. I have a lot of confidence that if we can reach the final my team can go ahead and win the World Cup.”

Athapaththu expressed happiness at becoming the ICC no. 1 ranked women ODI player in the world which she said had been achieved only by her idol Sanath Jayasuriya in 2003.

“Since then no one in our men’s and women’s teams have been able to reach that position. I am happy that I have achieved this feat after Sanath.”

Athapaththu said that she has set several goals for herself since she started to play cricket and so far achieved them. 

“I wanted to become the first centurion for Sri Lanka and I managed to get that in my 11th match, then I wanted to score a century in T20I which I was also able to achieve. Then I was able to become the world no. 1 ranked batter, but my biggest dream was getting several ICC awards including the ODI Women’s Player of the Year award and being captain of both ICC Women’s ODI and T20I teams.” “I had a lot of personal goals from my childhood and I have managed to achieve them. But as a captain my personal dream is to win a World Cup for the country which I have not been able to do so far. I hope before I retire from cricket I will be able to attain it. I am working very hard towards that goal with my players and coaches. If I can fulfil that for my country it will be the greatest achievement of my life.”

SRI LANKA QUALIFYING MATCHES

• 25 April v Thailand at Tolerance Oval

• 27 April v Scotland at Abu Dhabi

• 1 May v Uganda at Abu Dhabi

• 3 May v USA at Tolerance Oval

• 5 May – Semi-finals 1 and 2 at Abu Dhabi

• 7 May – Final at Abu Dhabi