Can Sri Lanka juniors turn tables this time?
Their biggest assignment will have a say whether they continue to smile
Despite a heartbreaking defeat at the recently concluded ACC Under-19 Asia Cup Championship against India, the Sri Lanka juniors will be obstinate to complete the mission they are destined to at the upcoming ICC Under-19 Men’s World Cup, which begins in five more days.
The Lankan youth outfit had ample time to try and test their strengths and weaknesses, while also tasting important wins in two bilateral Youth ODI series, while playing a total of 15 games during the past two to three months. They won 11 out of the total, facing three defeats in addition to a no result, that against Bangladesh, the reigning world champions, in the Under-19 Asia Cup group stage game.
Among the wins were an inspiring 5-0 whitewash against Bangladesh, and a 3-2 series win against England, both at home. In addition they raked up three wins at the Asia Cup — two one-sided against minnows Kuwait and Nepal, and a thrilling comeback win against Pakistan in a low-scoring semi-final. The losses they went through were against England at home and India in the final of the Asia Cup, a near repeat of the ICC Men’s U-19 World Cup 2000 final held in Colombo.
However, statistics prove that Sri Lanka U-19s possess a greater likelihood to reach a final for the second time in their 14th outing, but Head Coach Avishka Gunawardene is willing to take one step at a time.
“The initial target is to reach the quarter-finals, from there we will plan according to the opposition and conditions. The boy’s have learned the values and methods after being together in 15 games, and by now they are a confident lot,” Gunawardene told reporters through a virtual press conference.
Slotted in Group ‘D’, Sri Lanka will face Australia and host West Indies in the coming week. The 16-team competition will have four groups of four teams each and based on the final standings after the group games, each team will be slotted into the next phase and will have to play at least two more matches as the tournament progress.
“We have observed teams like South Africa, England, Scotland, West Indies and of course Bangladesh, but we are unaware of how Australia fairs this time around. We will take one game at a time, will take the pros and cons from the recent three series and make sure not to repeat any of the mistakes that happened on the way. This is our final destination, the World Cup, and we cannot afford to make mistakes,” Gunawardene added.
To bolster the 17-member Sri Lanka U-19 squad, former skipper Mahela Jayawardena has joined the group as a Consultant Coach and Gunawardene, a former national junior player himself, considers it a good move at a vital competition.
“Having Mahela (Jayawardena) with the team is a huge bonus, as he comes with a heavy load of experience as a coach at higher levels. The boys are playing that brand of cricket as the seniors, but we need someone with better and advance knowledge to face tougher situations,” he told of the presence of his former national junior team mate of mid-1990s.
Having completed 15 games together and learning the team’s pros and cons on the way to the World Cup, Gunawardene stated that his team is aiming at winning all games with the array of variations they posses in bowling, and batting. Spearheaded by skipper Dunith Wellalage, a spin-bowling allrounder, Sri Lanka possess a pace attack comprising Chamindu Wickramasinghe, Yasiru Rodrigo, Vinuka Ranpul and Mathesha Pathirana, who is recovering from an injury.
The spinners include skipper Wellalage, a leg-spinner, and off-spinners Trevin Mathew, Shevon Daniel and Sadisha Rajapaksa. Deputy skipper Raveen de Silva could come in handy as a useful leg spinner along with Wanuja Sahan Kumara.
“Dunith Wellalage has been handling the team pretty well, that’s a plus point for us. And Matheesha will be able to join training in a few more days, but we will go ahead with the pace attack with others until then. He (Matheesha) has more control of the old ball, but others can to the role of containing. For the batsmen, the top five have been instructed to at least continue till the 40th over. There’s an issue, when they follow that at one or two games, they fail in the next. That was visible in the recent few games, and we are addressing the issue of gaining consistency in the batting order,” Gunawardene explained.
The Sri Lanka juniors have already completed their quarantine period and resumed training two days ago. They will play against Uganda and Ireland in two warm-up games at Guyana, before their first game against Scotland on Friday.
The 17-member Sri Lanka U-19 Squad which took part in the U-19 Asia Cup held in UAE, left for West Indies straight from Dubai last Sunday for the ICC U-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2022.
The Squad: Dunith Wellalage (Captain), Raveen de Silva (Vice Captain), Shevon Daniel, Anjala Bandara, Pawan Pathiraja, Sadisha Rajapaksa , Wanuja Sahan Kumara, Ranuda Somarathne, Malsha Tharupathi, Traveen Mathew, Yasiru Rodrigo, Matheesha Pathirana , Chamidu Wickramasinghe, Vinuja Ranpul, Sakuna Liyanage, Abhisheak Liyanaarachchi, Sadeesh Jayawardena
| World Cup Schedule | |
West Indies
West Indies vs Australia at Providence Stadium, Guyana Sri Lanka vs Scotland at Everest Cricket Club Ground, Georgetown
Pakistan vs Papua New Guinea at Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad Ireland vs Uganda at Everest Cricket Club Ground, Georgetown India vs South Africa at Providence Stadium, Guyana Canada vs United Arab Emirates at Conaree Sports Club, Basseterre
Bangladesh vs England at Warner Park, Basseterre, St Kitts Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe at Diego Martin Sporting Complex, Diego Martin
West Indies vs Scotland at Warner Park, Basseterre, St Kitts Australia vs Sri Lanka at Conaree Sports Club, Basseterre
Afghanistan vs Papua New Guinea at Diego Martin Sporting Complex, Diego Martin South Africa vs Uganda at Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad England vs Canada at Warner Park, Basseterre, St Kitts
Australia vs Scotland at Conaree Sports Club, Basseterre India vs Ireland at Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba,Trinidad
Zimbabwe vs Papua New Guinea at Diego Martin Sporting Complex, Diego Martin Pakistan vs Afghanistan at Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba, Trinidad Bangladesh vs Canada at Conaree Sports Club, Basseterre England vs United Arab Emirates at Warner Park, Basseterre, St Kitts
West Indies vs Sri Lanka at Conaree Sports Club, Basseterre South Africa vs Ireland at Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba, Trinidad
Bangladesh vs United Arab Emirates at Warner Park, Basseterre, St Kitts India vs Uganda at Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba, Trinidad Pakistan vs Zimbabwe at Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad
Plate Quarter-Final 1 (A3 vs B4) at Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad Plate Quarter-Final 2 (B3 vs A4) at Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba, Trinidad
Super League Quarter-Final (A1 vs B2) at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua Plate Quarter-Final 3 (C3 vs D4) at Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad Plate Quarter-Final 4 (D3 vs C4) at Diego Martin Sporting Complex, Diego Martin
Super League Quarter-Final 4 (D1 vs C2) at Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua
Plate Playoff Semi-Final 1 at Diego Martin Sporting Complex, Diego Martin Plate Semi-Final 1 at Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad Super League Quarter-Final 3 (C1 vs D2) Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua
Super League Quarter-Final 2 (B1 vs A2) at Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua Plate Playoff Semi-Final 2 at Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba, Trinidad Plate Semi-Final 2 at Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad
13th Place Playoff at Diego Martin Sporting Complex, Diego Martin 15th Place Playoff at Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba, Trinidad Super League Playoff Semi-Final 1 at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua
Super League Playoff Semi-Final 2 at Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua Plate Final at Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad 11th Place Playoff at Diego Martin Sporting Complex, Diego Martin
Super League Semi-Final 1 at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua
Super League Semi-Final 2 at Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua
5th Place Playoff at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua 7th Place Playoff at Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua
3rd Place Playoff at Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua
Final at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua All matches beginning at 7:30pm Sri Lanka Time |