With the venue for the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup changing from the subcontinent to South African conditions, Sri Lanka’s preparations for the big event has to undergo a few changes to their approach to the game, but Sri Lanka Under-19 Head Coach Jehan Mubarak is confident that the changes will not affect his team so much.
“There’s not a lot of time for preparations. We go to Dubai for the ACC Men’s Under-19 Asia Cup Tuesday night. First, I want them to focus on that,” said Mubarak as his team left for the Asian event in the early hours of today where they are grouped with Bangladesh, UAE and Japan in Group B. The tournament takes place from 8 to 17 December.
After the Under-19 Asia Cup, Sri Lanka’s cricketers will divert their attention fully on the Under-19 World Cup which will be held in South Africa.
“There isn’t much time to adjust but the squad and the team that we have, whatever the conditions, I am confident we can perform,” said Mubarak. “We have a well-balanced squad with three fast bowlers. It was them who bowled us to victory in the Under-19 ODI series in Pakistan. They are the ones who brought us back into the game. In the middle overs we have a little bit of pace depth. Spinners also, we have. We have a balanced combination in whatever conditions to be successful.”
Speaking of how the Under-19 Asia Cup will help prepare the squad for the Under-19 World Cup, Mubarak explained, “It’s getting the team together and to start playing as one. There are one or two changes from the Pakistan squad, Hirun Kapurubandara who scored 500 runs in school one-day tournament comes in to open the batting with Pulindu Perera. Duvindu Ranatunga who was one of our main fast bowlers is coming back after an injury. The Asia Cup will make them get ready for the World Cup. We don’t have a lot of matches in the Asia Cup. All the way to the final there are only seven matches. In the first round we play Japan, UAE and Bangladesh and then the top two teams go to the semi-finals. Our first match is on 8 December against Japan.”
“Duvindu coming in, especially going to South Africa, is a plus point for us because we have more depth in our fast bowling. Earlier, it was Ruvishan Perera, and Garuka Sanketh who were the two main fast bowlers. Generally, we feel that we have a good balanced team, batters who can maintain a very good strike rate, a couple of guys Rusanda Gamage and Sharujan Shanmuganathan are anchors who can bat through the innings while the other guys can accelerate around them. Batting is the strength. We just need to give them a lot more experience and game plans in different situations which they are doing. In spin we are balanced. We have a right-arm leg-spinner, an off-spinner and a left-arm spinner all of whom are equally good.”
Sri Lanka has yet to win an Under-19 Asia Cup. They have reached the final on five occasions and lost each time to India, the last instance being in 2021 in Dubai.
Sri Lanka Squad for Under-19 Asia Cup
Sineth Jayawardena (Captain, Royal College, Colombo), Pulindu Perera (Dharmaraja College, Kandy), Vishen Halambage (St. Peter’s College, Colombo), Ravishan de Silva (P. de S. Kularatne Vidyalaya, Ambalangoda), Sharujan Shanmuganathan (St. Benedict’s College, Colombo), Dinura Kalupahana (Mahinda College, Galle), Malsha Tharupathi (Vice-Captain, Richmond College, Galle), Vihas Thevmika (Thurstan College, Colombo), Vishwa Lahiru (Sri Sumangala College, Panadura), Garuka Sanketh (Lyceum International School, Wattala), Duvindu Ranatunga (Mahanama College, Colombo), Hirun Kapurubandara (St. Joseph’s College, Colombo), Rusanda Gamage (St. Peter’s College, Colombo), Dinuka Tennakoon (Trinity College, Kandy), Ruvishan Perera (Ananda College, Colombo). Travelling Reserves – Supun Waduge (Trinity College, Kandy), Janith Fernando (Joseph Vaz College, Wennappuwa).
Under-19 Asia Cup Draw
(All matches played in Dubai and commencing at 9.30 a.m. local time)
8 Dec: India v Afghanistan (ICC Academy Oval 1), Pakistan v Nepal (ICC Academy Oval 2)
9 Dec: Bangladesh v UAE (ICC Academy Oval 1), Sri Lanka v Japan (ICC Academy Oval 2)
10 Dec: India v Pakistan (ICC Academy Oval 1), Afghanistan v Nepal (ICC Academy Oval 2)
11 Dec: Sri Lanka v UAE (ICC Academy Oval 1), Bangladesh v Japan (ICC Academy Oval 2)
12 Dec: Pakistan v Afghanistan (ICC Academy Oval 1), India v Nepal (ICC Academy Oval 2)
13 Dec: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka (ICC Academy Oval 1), UAE v Japan (ICC Academy Oval 2)
14 Dec: 1st Semi-final (Dubai International Stadium), 2nd Semi-final (ICC Academy Oval 1)
15 Dec: Final (Dubai International Stadium)
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