Sri Lanka fighting expect to recover his touch as they launch their title defense against qualifiers Afghanistan in the WT20 at Eden Gardens on Thursday.
Although the competition can
become a cake walk for Sri Lanka, the
unpredictability of the format always keeps cricket fans guessing.
What would hope Afghanistan is
the fact that Sri Lanka have been fighting recently. They lost first in a
series 1-2 in India last month and then surrendered to Bangladesh and Pakistan
in the Asia Cup development of the islanders for the ongoing tournament has
also been disappointing as they succumbed to New Zealand and Pakistan in
preparation matches.
Some decisions of the new selection panel have worked well for the beleaguered people of Sri Lanka.
Adding to the concerns of Sri Lanka
is the veteran pacer Lasith Malinga. The talisman of golden hair has fallen
short of expectations in recent times and leave his post as captain just before
the World T20. It is also recovering from an injury to his left knee and might
not be available for Afghanistan tie.
One cannot also deny the fact
that Sri Lanka are yet to find suitable replacements for players like Mahela
Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara played a decisive role in them winning the
trophy in Bangladesh two years ago.
But the strength of the islanders
is their batting and Tillakaratne Dilshan tastes, Lahiru Thirimanne and Dinesh
Chandimal would use the first six overs in the flat Belter in Eden to pile on
the runs and pressure.
If you are able to post a decent
total, Lanka have the bowling unit to defend well, even without Malinga.
Afghanistan's entry to the
tournament is no fluke. They have fought hard every time in qualifying and have
reached all worlds T20 after 2010. The icing on the cake was when they reached
the World Cup 50-over in 2015, only two years after being delivered the status
of an international day.
Afghans remained unbeaten in
pre-qualifying tournament and were able to get some special performances of the
bag during it.
They beat Scotland first, where
the batsman Mohammad Shahzad largest reached a fluent 61. And the next thing
easily skipped past the challenge of Hong Kong, where Shahzad was again
instrumental with a key 41. In the last match convincingly Afghanistan beat
Zimbabwe by 59 runs to go unscathed in the main round.
But the way players learned their
cricket in refugee camps in a war-torn country against the likes of Dushmanta
clock Chameera 145 km / ph constantly? They might not have the answer, but on
Thursday all eyes will be on the likes of Captain Shahzad Asghar Stanikzai and
who have had great runs with the bat in recent weeks.
In addition, Afghanistan has a
great bowling alignment of their own. It may not be the best in the business,
but capable enough to do what it is intended for.
In addition to the likes of
Shapoor pacemaker Zadran and Dawlat Zadran, the trump card for Afghans can be
17-year-old leg-spinner Rashid Khan, who was the bowler most successful for
your team with six wickets in qualifying, and has collected nine wickets in the
last five games.
This is also the first time that
the two sides are horns in a T20 International locking.
Squads:
Afghanistan: Asghar Stanikzai
(captain), Dawlat Zadran, Hamid Hassan, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran,
Rashid Khan, Shafiqullah Shafiq, Amir Hamza, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Sadiq,
Mohammad Shahzad, Noor Ali Zadran, Samiullah Shenwari, Shapoor Zadran, Mirwais
Ashraf
Sri Lanka: Lasith Malinga, Angelo
Mathews (captain), Dinesh Chandimal, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Shehan Jayasuriya,
Milinda Siriwardana, Dasun shanaka, Chamara Kapugedera, Nuwan Kulasekara,
Dushmantha Chameera, Thisara Perera, Sachithra Senanayake, Rangana Herath,
Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Thirimanne
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