New captain says Sri Lanka have edge over Australia

Kusal Mendis, who had captaincy added to his workload on Friday after injured skipper Dasun Shanaka was ruled out of the Cricket World Cup 2023, believes Sri Lanka has the momentum against Australia, who they face on Monday at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow.

Sri Lanka and Australia are yearning for their first win in the tournament with both sides losing their first two games.

“The momentum is with us,” said Mendis, making his first appearance as Sri Lanka’s ODI skipper.

“Yes, we have lost two games. But when you look at those losses, I think, we have done much better than the Australians. They will have some doubts about our team”. 

While Australia’s problem has been their batting, it has been the bowling for the Sri Lankans.

But this does not bother him much as he said “Every bowling unit will struggle on Indian pitches”.

“We need to adapt quickly and I strongly believe that the bowlers will do their part to the best of their ability. Not only us, even the top-quality attacks have been taken apart and conceded over 300 or 350 plus on these pitches,” he said, adding that his duty is to get the best out of the players.

Mendis who has been the mainstay of Sri Lanka’s batting in the tournament, having scored 76 and 122 to go with his 158 in the practice game against Afghanistan said he will bat with the same aggression as he has done in the previous two games.

"I don't like to change the way I bat,” he said. “Before coming for the World Cup, I didn't think I would play at a higher strike rate like this. But after playing the two warm-up games, I understood that I can play freely, because the pitches are good. There will be times when I will have to be a bit more cautious in my approach because the bowlers will come hard at me with their plans. Even though I am the captain, I will not change the way I bat because I know if I am amongst the runs, we will be able to win games”.

(Champika Fernando in Lucknow)