Champions Trophy 2017: Sri Lanka are happy to enter the tournament as underdogs," says Angelo Mathews

May 26, 2017

London, May 26: Sri Lanka will embrace the 'underdog' tag at the ICC Champions Trophy in England, according to skipper Angelo Mathews.Mathews

A joint-winner in 2002, Sri Lanka has only reached the semi-final stage once since, getting to the last four in the 2013 edition, also in England.

In a pool also featuring India, Pakistan and South Africa, Mathews admits his team is being seen as an outsider to lift the trophy but is confident Sri Lanka has the firepower to make a run at the title.

He said: "All the teams are quite even, I think in the past few months we have had a few lapses here and there. Nobody will give us a chance, to be really honest, but we are happy to enter the tournament as underdogs.

"We are confident, we have prepared extremely well. In Sri Lanka and England for the past few days, it's been really good. Hopefully, we can play tomorrow's practice game (against Australia), and get a good practice out of it.

"All the teams are quite even but it's on the given day, the guys who make less mistakes will win. It can be England, it can be us, it can be anyone.

"Everyone has got a chance, no one can write anyone off and I'm sure it will be a very exciting tournament."

Still only 29, Mathews is one of the veteran leaders on the Sri Lanka team and was part of the side that beat England 3-2 in a one-day international series back in 2014.

While the batting line-up has a very different look to it in this tournament, Mathews is confident that Sri Lanka can use that experience to its advantage.

He added: "We are a team where we stick to our basics. We've played pretty well in England, especially in 2014, so we will try to take a leaf out of it.

"We are a pretty young, inexperienced team, but a few of us have played in England. Anyone can change a game at any given stage. We have got the talent, the skill in the team, it's just that we have to go out there and express ourselves," he said.

The 'x-factor' for Sri Lanka could be Lasith Malinga, who is included in the squad and is in line for a first one-day appearance since 2015.

Now almost exclusively playing in Twenty20 cricket, Malinga enters the tournament fully fit according to his skipper, who is optimistic the 33-year-old fast bowler can shine in the longer format.

Mathews said: "(Malinga) is fully fit. We look forward to utilising him in the matches. He is very keen, he got here a few days back. He's very keen to get on the park. He hasn't played 50-over games in the recent past but he has played a lot of games in the IPL which is very intense.

"He's been doing a lot of training as well. He is confident, we are confident as well. We all know he is a match winner, he has proven himself over the past many years. He can win us a game single-handedly, so we are looking forward to it."

Sri Lanka will kick off its campaign against South Africa before the two matches against its sub-continental rivals.

And despite a surprise loss to Scotland in a warm-up game, quickly avenged two days later, Mathews believes his side will be ready for English conditions.

He added: "It was just a practice game for us, we rested a few players. In an ideal scenario, we would have bowled first but I wanted our batters to bat in those conditions when the wicket is fresh.

"The result didn't matter to us, even in the second game when we thrashed them, we just wanted to go out there and acclimatise, get used to the conditions and the wickets and the pace and spend some time in the middle.

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Agencies
February 12,2020

Mumbai, Feb 12: Former Indian greats Kapil Dev and Mohammad Azharuddin have been left disappointed by the behaviour of the Under-19 team after the World Cup final where they were involved in an altercation with their Bangladeshi counterparts.

After Bangladesh won the final beating India by three wickets (via DLS) at the Senwes Park on Sunday, the players of the two teams were seen engaging in an exchange of words and even some pushing and shoving on the field.

"I would like to see the board (BCCI) take some strict action against the players to set an example. Cricket is not about abusing the opponent. I am sure there is enough reason for these youngsters to be dealt with firmly by BCCI," Kapil was quoted as saying by The Hindu.

"I welcome aggression, nothing wrong in it. But it has to be controlled aggression. You can't cross the line of decency in the name of being competitive. I would say it was unacceptable that youngsters put up such an obnoxious display on the cricket field," he added.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has sanctioned five players, including three from Bangladesh -- Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain and Rakibul Hasan --and two from India --Akash Singh and Ravi Bishnoi for the scuffle.

Azharuddin also reiterated what Kapil said, insisting that players need to be disciplined.

"I would take action against the errant Under 19 players, but I also want to know what role has the support staff played in educating these youngsters. Act now before it is too late. The players have to be disciplined," Azharuddin said.

Earlier, Bishan Singh Bedi has lashed out at the Priyam Garg-led team, saying their behaviour was disgusting and disgraceful.

"You bat, bowl and field badly�happens, but there's no excuse for behaving badly. The behaviour was disgusting and most disgraceful. The innocence of that age was not visible at all," Bedi told Mid Day.

Bedi, who represented India in 67 Tests and 10 ODIs, said the behaviour of the Bangladesh cricketers is not our problem.

"Look, what Bangladesh do is their problem, what our boys do is our problem. You could see that there was abusive language used," he said.

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Agencies
January 14,2020

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News Network
January 10,2020

Karachi, Jan 10: Former Pakistan batsman and current U-19 head coach Ejaz Ahmed feels that his side can beat defending champions and arch-rivals India in the forthcoming ICC Youth World Cup beginning in South Africa on January 17.

"India has a very good cricket system and it is organized but I know that we have more passion than them when we play against each other and that is how we also beat them in the semi-finals of the recent Asian Emerging Nations Cup," Ejaz said.

Ejaz, who has played 60 Test and 250 ODIs, was head coach of the Pakistan Emerging side which beat India before eventually winning the title in Bangladesh last year.

"Even in the past, we beat India because of our greater passion and this time also I know the passion of our players will prevail over them although they have a very strong outfit," he added.

The 51-year-old Ejaz, however, said at the end of the day it would be all about how a team plays on that particular day.

"It is the same in the World Cup it does not matter which team is number one or defending champions what will matter is how a team plays on a given day. I personally feel our team is well balanced," he said.

Ejaz did not believe that India would get advantage of having played a four-nation tournament with South Africa, New Zealand and Zimbabwe in South Africa before the World Cup.

"Our players have also trained hard in Lahore and we have played around 11 matches. We will also reach South Africa nine days before the World Cup and we have some practice games and I think our preparations are also very good for the tournament," he said.

The former batsman also said the absence of fast bowler Naseem Shah will not impact much on the team's performance. Naseem was withdrawn from the Pakistan U-19 squad after he played for the senior team in three Test matches against Australia and Sri Lanka.

"Look there was no controversy at all. The way we now see things is that you can't expect a MBA to go and take BA exams. That is how we look at Naseem Shah, he has made the grade for Pakistan and now he should be performing for the senior team," said the head coach.

"We have a couple of exciting young talent in the ranks. I expect Rohail and Haider to play for the senior team in two to three year's time, they are that good."

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