Coach Hashan wants a repeat of heroics in Pakistan with India from Lankan women

• Sri Lanka-India white ball series opens at Dambulla tomorrow

Sri Lanka Women head coach Hashan Tillakaratne

Sri Lanka Women cricketers head coach Hashan Tillakaratne said that if his team can play the same way they did against Pakistan in the third and final ODI which they won by 93 runs at Karachi they will be able to match India in

the upcoming series. The series commences tomorrow with the first T20I at Dambulla.

For Sri Lanka and for India who are coming out for the first time in the ICC Women’s Championship cycle 2022-25 the points in the ODI series is important to gain automatic qualification for the 2025 Women’s World Cup.

“Every game is very important to us because we need to get the points. The points are very crucial for us. We all knew that we couldn’t play in the last World Cup so this time we want to ensure we qualify by getting the points,” Tillakaratne told Daily FT.

“We know how good India is. They have a very good balanced side and we need to play our best cricket to beat them. The way we played against Pakistan in the last ODI, if they can come up with the same performance then we will be able to match them.”

“Our bowling has improved a lot we have very good variety. We have included another leg-spinner in our squad Rashmi de Silva who bowls with a nice loop and we have a balanced bowling attack. If we can bat well and get a reasonable score then our bowlers will do the needful.”

“Unfortunately, it was our batters who let us down badly in Pakistan. They were not rotating the strike, we ate up so many dot balls, risks were not taken at crucial points, running between the wickets was poor - we had about 13 run outs in the six games and the fear of failure. Those are the areas that we are looking at and we need to improve them very quickly,” pointed out Tillakaratne.

Sri Lanka lost the T20I series 3-0 and the ODI series 2-1 in Pakistan. Their solitary win came in the last game of the tour when captain Chamari Athapaththu who had failed in the first five matches regained her form to score a brilliant century and steer her team to victory.

“We all know how good Chamari is and everyone is so dependent on her. It has been the case in the last four-five years. The other batters have their own identity to come forward and show their mettle but unfortunately that has not happened,” said Tillakaratne. 

“We have been telling them to take on the responsibility and perform. They are very talented and skilful the only thing is they need to believe in themselves and perform at the highest level. We are expecting these batters to perform well during the series. If we depend only on Chamari we are putting undue pressure on her. Chamari has to play freely and the others should bat around her.”

“We have batters such as Nilakshi de Silva, Ama Kanchana and Kavisha Dilhari they have done reasonably well in the middle overs. We are giving them more opportunities to go out there and express themselves. It is all to do with the negative mind set. If they are positive and if they can apply what they do at the nets in the middle, then everything will fall into place.”

Tillakaratne welcomed the ICC Women’s Championship cycle 2022-25 which would give Sri Lanka more opportunities to play other countries. In the three-year Sri Lanka will play three-match ODI series against India, New Zealand, Bangladesh and West Indies at home, and against England, South Africa, Pakistan and Ireland away. 

“We haven’t played international cricket for the last three years. The girls are learning and the knowledge is there but not the action. We have to play more cricket and give them the confidence. Then only you can be more proactive in the middle. If they don’t play much cricket the fear of failure is there and they are very shy to apply themselves in the middle.” (ST)