We are very happy to enter the final and win the Asia cup for which we were waiting for a long time said Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka after winning the sixth Asia Cup championship at the Dubai International cricket stadium.
We had a plan and were ready to play against any opponent. After we lost the first match to Afghanistan we had a long chat and corrected our mistakes and played the next few games with confidence.
Actually we knew our strength but we couldn’t enter the final of a major international tournament recently and the Asia Cup victory is a big boost for the next month’s T 20 World Cup said skipper Dasun Shanaka.
We played really well and we had good bowling and batting side as well as our fielding was of a very high standard and that was the reason for our success.
We are very lucky and happy to hear both Netball and Cricket teams won the Asian titles on the same day and it is a huge achievement but I must tell the media please give equal publicity to all sports. We knew all media give maximum publicity for cricket but it is unfair and we have to give support to Netball as well, said Dasun Shanaka.
Actually Sri Lanka head coach, his supporting staff and Sri Lanka Cricket give good support to us and our players’ commitment is also very high.
Talking about the Asia Cup cricket tournament we planned match by match while seniors and juniors gave equal support to get success. At the final on Sunday I lost the toss but my coach Chris Silverwood said we have to fight back to win the game. My team had good confidence especially Bhanuka Rajapaksa made a fluent knock of 70 which built up a challenging total for Sri Lanka team. The coach Silverwood came to the middle after ten overs and gave his plan and encouraged us and that is very important.
When we lost five wickets early Bhanuka and Wanindu had a good partnership to build up a decent total while my bowlers did a superb job to strangle Pakistan. The way we played this tournament we can go forward with confidence, added Dasun Shanaka.
Actually our cricketers are always dedicated and they also have personal life but our commitment to cricket always is high. Asia Cup is over and now we have to focus on T 20 World Cup in Australia and looking forward to do well.
Meanwhile Sri Lanka’s dashing stroke maker Bhanuka Rajapaksa said he wanted to be the Best Batsman by making big scores and was more focused during the tournament. My captain and senior players like Wanindu played an anchor role in this tournament.
The way Wanindu batted during the final always made it easy for me and we had a chat to build up the innings until the end. Rajapaksa also said they knew they can go upto at least 140 to put up a good fight and the plan really worked out at this final. Wanindu Hasaranga the player of the series did really well while Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka were among the runs and these are the plus points from this tournament and we have to go with more confidence after this victory said Man of the Match Bhanuka Rajapaksa.
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