Sri Lanka and the three times World Cup champions Australia will be facing off each other on Saturday at The Oval. Out of the four games, Sri Lanka could win only one against Afghanistan. Whereas their two matches with Pakistan and Bangladesh were washed off respectively. And now, the team is gearing up for the upcoming fierce competitions. Meanwhile, the skipper Dimuth Karunaratne said that Sri Lanka has limited talent. They can’t copy India, but even with their own rhythm, they can beat anyone.
Sri Lanka entered in the tournament with ten wickets defeat in the match against New Zealand. Apart from the skipper Karunaratne, none other could score a fifty in the match. The whole team collapsed for 136 runs in less than 30 overs whereas, Martin Guptill and Colin Munroe had no difficulty in chasing off the target and sealed the match in just 16.1 overs.
However, Sri Lanka won the second match by 36 runs where Nuwan Pradeep(4/31) and Lasith Malinga(3/39) starred.
Skipper Karunaratne believes that with limited talent, Sri Lanka can’t copy India
Ahead of their fifth challenge against the five-time champions, Karunaratne said that the team has limited skills. He did a swot analysis of his team in comparison to India, who boasts being as one of the strongest squads.
“We are a team with limited talent. If you compare us with a lot of other sides, we have major limitations. For example, the India side has someone who hits a hundred virtually in every match. In our team, we’ve only had one or two centurions all year,” said Karunaratne.
The skipper compared the capacity of Indian openers and bowlers, the hunger with which they enter the ground. Karunaratne reasoned the experience of having played in the international matches and IPL as India’s strongest point.
However, he believes if the team work on their weaknesses and play smart, they will definitely win.
“Their openers can hit the big shots any time they want. They can defend any time they want … They’ve faced every bowler there is to face, either in internationals or the IPL, and they’ve got all that knowledge and experience,” he said.
Karunaratne also said that his fast bowlers cannot be compared with the Indians. “They’ve got fast bowlers that go at over 140kph. We don’t have that luxury – we’re 130, 135kph. So, we have to work within those limitations. We have to compete, but we can’t copy India. We have our own rhythm. If we play smart, we can beat anyone.”
The 31-year-old southpaw has himself played in limited ODIs. Out of the 20 ODIs, Karunaratne got featured in just 16 ODI innings. In eight years of his ODI career, the skipper had scored 349 runs at an average of 24.93.