LEEDS: The last time the two neighbours faced off in England, during the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, Sri Lanka defied the odds to chase down India’s 321 for 6 with seven wickets to spare. Sri Lanka, who have nothing to lose in Saturday’s game, would love to repeat the upset.
“We have to win the game to end up in the fifth or sixth position, that’s our plan. So we intend to do our best,” declared Dimuth Karunaratne, the Lankan skipper.
Karunaratne wants to use their final game as a platform to prepare for the future. “In the 2015 World Cup we also started to build the World Cup side for 2019 but unfortunately the players who came in, they couldn’t perform very well then and we had to change lots of players. But after this World Cup we’re trying to have a special plan and identify the players who can produce — if you take the bowling, batting, fielding and the fitness level. We are looking to the future World Cup and making a good solid 15 for us to select,” said Karunaratne, who was appointed as the skipper only a month before the World Cup.
Of those players who will play a key role in 2023, Avishka Fernando seems an obvious candidate. The 21-year-old batsman scored an eye-catching century in the recent win over the West Indies.
“If you take the positives of Avishka Fernando, he’s playing really well. In three games he showed that he can produce runs. He’s one of the future stars,” he said.
