Upul Tharanga backs Sri Lanka to perform well in ODIs

Tags: India tour of Sri Lanka 2017, Sri Lanka v India 1st ODI at Colombo, Aug 20, 2017, India, Sri Lanka, Warushavithana Upul Tharanga

Published on: Aug 20, 2017

Scorecard | Commentary | Graphs

Upul Tharanga, captain of Sri Lanka in the limited overs formats admitted his team will have to get over the 3-0

Upul Tharanga, captain of Sri Lanka in the limited overs formats admitted his team will have to get over the 3-0 defeat in the Tests, but added that the recent Champions Trophy win over India gives them confidence.

"We have got to forget the Test series and the mistakes we made. We are heading for a new format and are looking forward to it. That's the most important thing," Tharanga was quoted as saying in an NDTV report.

"India have been very consistent in the last three-four years. In comparison, we lack consistency and that has been a big drawback. Our fielding has been terrible. We have dropped catches."

"But we have the confidence having beaten India in the Champions Trophy. No one thought that we would beat them. If you take the last series, our batting was also good," the captain added.

Although India have rested Ashwin, Shami, Jadeja and Yadav, they are still a strong bowling side, feels Tharanga. "In their ODI side, Bhuvneshwar is their number one bowler. They are without a few bowlers but it doesn't make their attack any weaker. We cannot under-rate their attack. They have done well in tournaments like IPL. We have to work hard and play well," Tharanga admitted.
“I thought we did not play to our strengths during the Test series. We have done well in the ODIs in the last 10 years but the last 18 to 20 months have been a bit different. We have lacked confidence. You cannot give the opposition too much chance and when chances come your way, you have to grab them with both hands," he stated.

On the shocking loss to Zimbabwe, which led to Angelo Mathews giving up captaincy, Tharanga asserted, "I don't think I have any pressure. We want to win. We lost to Zimbabwe, but we have a great opportunity to beat India given that we defeated them during the Champions Trophy. We are a confident lot.”

--By A Cricket Correspondent

Related News