All posts by n8rngtd.top

Rejaur Rahman Raja took two wickets on BPL debut to seal a comfortable victory

Mohammad Isam24-Jan-2022How the match played outChattogram Challengers outplayed Khulna Tigers by 25 runs, securing a second win in three games in the BPL. A big-hitting powerplay and death overs propped their score up at an above-average 190 for 7 in 20 overs, before Rejaur Rahman Raja made a stunning BPL debut with three fiery overs.The uncapped Raja dealt Khulna an early blow when he struck Andre Fletcher on the neck. He removed Sikandar Raza, Fletcher’s concussion substitute, and Thisara Perera, apart from going for just nine runs in his first 18 deliveries. Left-arm quick Shoriful Islam was on the mark too, taking two wickets although he had Tanzid Hasan dropped at mid-on.Nasum Ahmed, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Benny Howell took one wicket each, as Chattogram won the game comfortably.That comfort came via two important batting periods. Chattogram struck 64 runs in the powerplay, and another 62 runs in the last five overs.Big hitChattogram’s openers got out trying to be too aggressive. Will Jacks and Kennar Lewis blasted off with 23 off the first over. The fifty was up in 3.3 overs, but both openers were gone by the fourth over with only 17 and 25 next to their names. After Afif Hossain and Sabbir Rahman batted steadily, Miraz and Howell got the run-rate back up.Miraz struck four boundaries in his 23-ball 30 while Howell struck an unbeaten 34 off 20 balls, with a bit of innovation in his five boundaries, that included an upper-cut six.Khulna had no such luck as their top order caved in with Fletcher being stretchered off. ESPNcricinfo understands that he is “feeling okay” but was taken to hospital as a precaution. Yasir Ali stood form, adding 43 runs for the fifth wicket with Raza. Yasir made 40 off 26 balls with three sixes and two fours, trying to keep Khulna in the game against the tide of a very high asking rate.Big missKhulna made an inauspicious start when Sohrawordi Shuvo, in his first BPL over in five years, conceded 23 runs. It also happened to be the most runs in the first over of a BPL innings. The previous highest was Chittagong Vikings’ 22 runs against Rajshahi Kings in the 2018-19 edition. Shuvo slipped a wide four off the first ball before Lewis slog swept him for a six. Jacks struck him down the ground for a four and followed it up with a swept six over long leg for the second six in the first over.Khulna would also hope that the veteran Mushfiqur Rahim comes good after he has had two low scores to start off the tournament.

England’s captain says the team has grown stronger since losing the 2019 Ashes, with a ‘lot more leaders in the side’

Andrew McGlashan19-Jan-2022Heather Knight wants England to go toe-to-toe with Australia’s aggressive mindset during the T20Is which launch the multi-format Ashes in Adelaide and the captain expects the players to show themselves in a better light after the one-sided 2019 series.England have not held the Ashes since victory in Australia in 2013-14 and the previous series ended at 12-4, which brought the end of Mark Robinson’s tenure as head coach, although the last time they were held Down Under in 2017-18, their overall scoreline was tied 8-8 .Related

• Tahlia McGrath all-round excellence trumps Wyatt 70 as Australia take Ashes opening honours

• 'Calm' restored to England squad after frustrating Ashes build-up

• Women's Ashes: Tightrope walk for teams with 'scattered' preparations leaving them undercooked

• Keightley: 'We'll be thinking about the World Cup throughout this Ashes'

• Jonassen not feeling 'any extra expectation' with Wareham and Molineux absent

Knight again called the build-up “quite average” with the range of Covid-related curveballs that had been thrown England’s way, but now that the teams are in Adelaide, she said the minds have been focused.”We are going to have to be positive and trust our game massively against them,” Knight said. “They are very aggressive, and we want to be the same and go right back at them.”I have made it no secret that the last Ashes [series] was tough, we massively underperformed, and didn’t play anywhere near our potential in 2019. Everything we’ve done has been about addressing that, and when you have a big loss like that, it leaves a bit of soul-searching and what you can do better. We definitely did that, we feel like we’ve built as a group, taken a lot more ownership and have a lot more leaders in the side.”As with many tours in the Covid-19 era, England have a larger-than-usual squad which is supplemented by further players in the A group which will have concurrent matches against Australia A. The depth of the home side is much talked about, but Knight believes England also now have a far wider group of players capable of performing at the international level. There was a glimpse of this when the main side was twice beaten in warm-up matches in Canberra.”There’s a bigger squad to pick from, I’ve certainly noticed that in the last year to 18 months,” Knight said. “The number of players we are talking about has grown all the time, which we feel is a huge strength for us. Having those selection headaches is really nice.”The initial schedule had this series starting with the Test match, but a reshuffling of fixtures to allow the teams more time to quarantine in New Zealand ahead of the ODI World Cup has meant a shift to begin with T20Is. While that has forced some quick tactical and preparation rethinking, Knight is backing her team’s T20 prowess.Since the heartbreak of seeing their T20 World Cup semi-final washed out in Sydney two years ago, England have won 12 of 14 matches and going back since the 2019 Ashes it’s 19 from 26 games.”T20 cricket is one of our strongest formats, so I think that will suit us quite nicely, we are really clear how we want to go about playing T20,” Knight said. “Think the last few series we’ve really looked to go hard in that first game, previously it’s been a weakness of ours. There will obviously be nerves around, that’s completely normal, but we are confident we can cope with that and punch first against Australia.”Knight said that England’s XI for the opening match had been decided but she would not be revealing it until the game.

“We are trying to get him here as soon as possible once we have the clearance from NCA” – Rohit Sharma

Nagraj Gollapudi22-Mar-2022Suryakumar Yadav is set to miss to Mumbai Indians’ opening match of the IPL, which will be against Delhi Capitals on March 27. ESPNcricinfo has learned that the 31-year-old, who picked up a hairline fracture on his thumb on February 22 in the final match of the T20 series against West Indies, is yet to be released by the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, where he has been in rehab for the past few weeks.”Surya is at NCA at the moment. He is recovering well. He’ll be here soon. I can’t give his availability right now, whether he will be available for the first game or not. But, yeah, we are trying to get him here as soon as possible once we have the clearance from NCA,” Mumbai’s captain Rohit Sharma said.Suryakumar’s absence is a significant loss for Mumbai, who have no other specialist Indian international in their batting order apart from captain Rohit Sharma and the biggest buy of the February auction Ishan Kishan.Since he was bought in 2019, Suryakumar has played a pivotal role as a top-order batter for Mumbai. While the five-time champions failed to make the knockouts last season, Suryakumar continued to flourish. He was their second-leading run-scorer with a tally of 317 at a strike rate of 143.43 and an average of 22. With his ability to float around the batting order, and, importantly accelerate from the time he arrives to the crease, Suryakumar has become a key batter for both Mumbai and India.It is likely that Mumbai will be forced to consider the pair of cousins – Ramandeep Singh and Anmolpreet Singh – to replace Suryakumar while he is unavailable. Uncapped Hyderabad batter Tilak Varma is favourite to play at No. 3.

Ben Duckett falls five runs shy of second straight ton as Nottinghamshire’s lead looks fragile

ECB Reporters Network16-Apr-2022Glamorgan will enter the final day of their LV= Insurance County Championship match against Nottinghamshire feeling that they are in a strong position to complete their first victory in a red-ball match at Trent Bridge since 1998.Building on a lead of 77 on first innings, in which Timm van der Gugten’s 62 helped the last two wickets add 131 runs, they had Nottinghamshire 224 for for 8 at the close, the Netherlands international seam bowler having also starred with the ball by taking four wickets for 51.All four came after tea, starting with that of key man Ben Duckett, who fell five runs short of posting a second century in the match. No other Nottinghamshire batsman has made more than 30 and a lead of 147 looks a fragile one.Nottinghamshire, pre-season favourites to win promotion from Division Two, pulled off an improbable win over Sussex at Hove last week. Another would seem unlikely, although ninth-wicket pair Brett Hutton and Joey Evison – batting with a runner because of a sore toe – added 37 in the last 14 overs and a few more on the final morning could still set up an intriguing finish.Related

• Matthew Potts claims six wickets to boost Durham hopes against Leicestershire

• Tom Haines leads Sussex from the front with unbeaten century to frustrate Derbyshire

Having let a good position slip on Friday, Nottinghamshire needed another seven overs on the third morning to take the last Glamorgan wicket, van der Gugten’s measured contribution with the bat ending when he miscued Liam Patterson-White’s left-arm spin and was caught at long-off.Michael Hogan, 19 not out, then demonstrated that his prowess with the ball does not wane even in his 41st year by removing both Nottinghamshire openers without scoring.He surprised Haseeb Hameed in his second over with a ball that climbed and looped to gully off the shoulder of the bat and, in his next over, banged another in short that Ben Slater went to pull but could only glove through to the wicketkeeper.Duckett and Joe Clarke were briefly on top as Nottinghamshire recovered from two down for one run to 45 for 2 at lunch. But Hogan and van der Gugten were able to dry up the runs immediately after lunch and Michael Neser returned to have Clarke caught behind, pushing at one that found a thin edge.Having survived a half-chance to midwicket on 32, Duckett went on the attack, going to his half-century with a lovely shot through the offside for four off Neser, following up with three legside boundaries against Andrew Salter’s off-spin.He lost another partner as skipper Steven Mullaney fell to a dab outside off stump that lacked conviction and turned into another catch for Chris Cooke.By tea, Duckett had moved into the 90s, but with Nottinghamshire still only 81 in front, Glamorgan knew that his early removal in the third session could be decisive.In the event, it came only four overs in, as the left-hander, with rare indecisiveness, pushed tentatively at a ball from van der Gugten only for it to leave him just enough to take the edge. David Lloyd took the catch at slip.Van der Gugten, finding some swing with the old ball, claimed his second wicket as Liam Patterson-White was adjudged leg before seeking to work one off his pads, a third as Sam Northeast dived full length to his left to snare Moores at second slip and a fourth as Northeast held one just over the ground to remove James Pattinson.But Hutton and Evison could yet turn the target into a tricky one, although there is a question mark over whether Evison will be able to bowl.

Statement issued on behalf of family says that “prognosis is unclear”

ESPNcricinfo staff10-May-2022Graham Thorpe, the former England batter, is “seriously ill” in hospital, according to the Professional Cricketers’ Association.Thorpe, 52, played 100 Tests for England between 1993 and 2005, averaging 44.66 with 16 centuries. He was recently announced as the new head coach of Afghanistan following a decade of involvement within England’s coaching set-up, which came to an end after this winter’s 4-0 Ashes loss in Australia.A statement from the PCA, issued at the request of Thorpe’s family, read: “Graham Thorpe has recently fallen seriously ill and is currently in hospital receiving treatment. His prognosis is unclear at this stage and we ask for privacy for him and his family at this time. Our thoughts are with Graham and his family.”Thorpe’s former county Surrey, where he spent the whole of his 17-year first-class career, added: “The thoughts of everyone at the Club are with Graham, his wife Amanda, and family at this time. He is an icon of the English game, known by millions of cricket fans and forever a favourite son of Surrey CCC.”After a century on debut against Australia at Trent Bridge, Thorpe soon established himself as one of the central figures of England’s Test team in the mid-1990s and early 2000s, with his selfless counterattacking style helping the team to emerge from the doldrums to become, by the time of his final Test against Bangladesh in June 2005, a side ready to compete on an equal footing with Ricky Ponting’s Australia in that summer’s legendary Ashes series.Thorpe’s own zenith came in the winter of 2000-01, when he was instrumental in England’s back-to-back series wins in Pakistan and Sri Lanka – to this day one of the team’s finest achievements.At Lahore in the first Test of that winter, he memorably compiled a century containing a solitary boundary, to lay the foundation for a 1-0 series win that he himself went on to seal in virtual darkness in Karachi later that tour.Then, three months later in the oppressive heat of Colombo, his twin innings of 113 not out and 32 not out carried England to a come-from-behind series victory against Sri Lanka, an achievement all the more impressive given they had succumbed to an innings defeat in the first Test in Galle.After retirement, he moved into coaching after a brief spell in the media, and after a stint with New South Wales in the Sheffield Shield in 2007, he joined the England set-up in 2010, initially as batting coach and later as assistant coach to Chris Silverwood, for whom he stepped in at Sydney this winter when Silverwood had to isolate following a Covid diagnosis.That role ended earlier this year when he, Silverwood and Ashley Giles, the former director of cricket, were all sacked in the wake of the Ashes loss. Thorpe’s own position had come under scrutiny after England’s defeat in the fifth Test, after the police were called in to break up an early-morning drinking session, involving several England and Australia players, at the team hotel in Hobart – allegedly after Thorpe had lit a cigar in an indoor space, which is against the law in Tasmania.

ICC are hoping to announce the venue at their Annual General Meeting next month

Osman Samiuddin03-Jun-2022The World Test Championship (WTC) could get the showpiece final it has wanted in the summer of 2023, as the ICC works to have it staged at Lord’s.Lord’s had been informally earmarked as the venue for the first WTC final last summer but because of Covid-19 the game was instead played in Southampton at the Ageas Bowl. At the time, the UK was still moving out of restrictions put in place because of the pandemic. Southampton – which had hosted international cricket in the summer of 2020 at the start of the pandemic – was seen as the ideal venue logistically to keep players in a bio-secure bubble because of its on-site hotel. New Zealand beat India in the final to become the inaugural Test world champions.But as restrictions have ended in the UK and bio-secure bubbles have been eased out, the ICC are hoping once again to stage the final at Lord’s.”I think it is scheduled for Lord’s, that was always the intention,” ICC chairperson Greg Barclay said on at tea on the second day of the first Test between England and New Zealand, at Lord’s.”It’s June so that rules out a number of other venues and we’ve got to get certainty around where it’s hosted. We’re out of Covid now so subject to arrangements being made and being able to be hosted out of Lord’s I think that’s the intention.”England are likely to host a one-off Test against a yet-to-be finalised opponent next summer before then hosting the Ashes. That would seem to increase the chances of Lord’s hosting the world final.There is still some work to be done before that is finalised, however the ICC are hoping to announce the venue at their Annual General Meeting next month.Barclay also said that though the WTC had brought some relevancy back to Test cricket, outside of India, England and Australia, other full members may have to accept that they will play less Test cricket than they would like to.”Men’s Test cricket is something that represents the history and legacy of the game, it is what makes the game unique,” Barclay said when asked where he saw the long format 10-15 years from now.”We are fortunate that we have other formats that can help us sustain Test cricket financially because other than one or two series it is effectively loss-making for boards – players will tell you it is ultimate test of cricket and they want to play it.”The Test Championship has driven some relevancy into it so in 10-15 years’ time I still see Test cricket being an integral part. It may be that there is less Test cricket. Some countries may have to make room and play less Test cricket – some of them might have totally different long and short form squads but also some of the smaller Full Members will have to accept from a resourcing point of view that they can’t play the amount of Test cricket that they wanted to. So we may see a lessening of that, maybe they play four or five Tests a year whereas England, Australia and India I think will be playing Test cricket as they are now.”

Two new teams – Pamir Zalmi and Hindukush Stars – have joined the league, making it an eight-team competition this year

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jun-2022Rashid Khan, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Najibullah Zadran are among the eight premier Afghanistan players to be retained by their Shpageeza Cricket League (SCL) teams ahead of the upcoming eighth season of the tournament.In the players’ draft for the tournament, conducted on June 10, a total of 142 players, national and uncapped, were drafted in five categories by the franchises, now numbering eight after the addition of two new franchises.The players retained ahead of the draft – apart from Rashid (Band-e-Amir Dragons), Gurbaz (Kabul Eagles, the defending champions) and Najibullah (Speenghar Tigers) – were Mohammad Shahzad (Mis Ainak Knights), Darwish Rasooli (Amo Sharks) and Samiullah Shinwari (Bost Defenders), while the two new teams, Pamir Zalmi and Hindukush Stars, picked Shapoor Zadran and Hamid Hassan as their retained players respectively.Of these players, Shahzad was retained in the highest category, Icon, as were ten others: Mohammad Nabi (Kabul Eagles), Fazalhaq Farooqi (Bost Defenders), Hashmatullah Shahidi (Pamir Zalmi), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Hindukush Stars), Usman Ghani (Speenghar Tigers), Hazratullah Zazai (Hindukush Stars), Asghar Afghan (Mis Ainak Knights), Karim Janat (Band-e-Amir Dragons), Ihsanullah Janat (Amo Sharks) and Noor Ali Zadran (Pamir Zalmi).In addition, two players have been drafted in the Diamond category by each franchise, three in Platinum, four in Golden, and six in the Silver category.The Afghanistan Cricket Board said in a statement that “it’s fine to note that the SCL2022 is expected to be conducted from July 15 to August 2 in Kabul”. Kabul Eagles beat Mis Ainak Knights in the final the last time the tournament was played, in 2020, making it their second title, after 2016. Mis Ainak Knights and Speenghar Tigers have also won the tournament twice apiece, while Band-e-Amir Dragons have won it once.

England veteran happy to contribute as finisher after success at top of order in Christchurch

Andrew Miller10-Jul-2022Danni Wyatt expects to slip back into England’s middle order for the first ODI against South Africa at Wantage Road on Monday, despite her starring role as an opener in the teams’ last meeting, in the World Cup semi-final at Christchurch in March.Wyatt, 31, made the highest score of her international career – an explosive 129 from 125 balls – as England atoned for their tense three-wicket loss at Mount Maunganui in the group stages to end South Africa’s dreams of a maiden World Cup final appearance with a 137-run victory.However, Wyatt was unable to follow up that display in the final, making 4 from five balls as Australia sealed their indomitable campaign with an emphatic 71-run win. And now, with England embarking on a new three-year white-ball cycle, the likelihood is that Emma Lamb will be given the chance to resume the opening partnership with Tammy Beaumont that was launched in the recent Test at Taunton.”I’m happy to bat wherever,” Wyatt said. “I’ve been up and down the order, but that’s fine. I’m just happy to be in the starting eleven. A lot of coaches have said in the past that I am flexible in the order in ODI cricket, and I can perform whatever role they say, which is a credit to myself.”It’s just about being really clear in my role, chatting to the captain or coach about what my role is going to be leading into the series and just prepare really well – whether it be with a new ball or an old ball – about my plan and how I’m going to go about it.”Despite her starring role in the semi-final, Wyatt herself acknowledges that her best moments for England have come when her available overs have been reduced – either as an opener in T20 cricket, in which role she has scored two of England’s three fastest hundreds, from 52 balls against India in 2018 and 56 against Australia the previous year, or as an ODI finisher – she averages 40.14 at No.7, compared to 24.00 in 30 innings as an opener.”My ideal situation is to go in with 15 or 10 overs to go,” she added. “Just go out there and do what I do in the T20 format: just be brave, show intent, run well, which is what happens when I’m playing my best cricket. Just back myself and try to get the team to the highest score possible.”Either way, Wyatt says she is excited by the current dynamic within the England squad, with a raft of new players including Issy Wong, Lauren Bell and Alice Davidson-Richards impressing when given their chances in the Test match and challenging the old guard to keep their standards high.”We’ve got a good mix between young and old faces in the squad, which is really nice,” Wyatt said. “It keeps us all young – but it’s a bit weird saying I’m old, I don’t feel it. But all the youngsters are fitting in nicely around the group. We all hang out, there’s a real good togetherness going on at the minute, so hopefully, we can take that onto the pitch as well.”That togetherness included an outing to Old Trafford for the opening match of the Women’s Euros last week, and with England’s cricket itinerary culminating in their Commonwealth Games campaign at the end of the month, Wyatt acknowledged this was a huge summer for women’s sport in the country.”It’s a massive month for women’s sport,” she said. “You’ve got the Euros and you’ve us playing as well, and I was actually lucky enough to go to Old Trafford with a few of the girls the other night, which was an unreal atmosphere.”I was in shock with how good the atmosphere was. And yeah, hopefully the girls can go all the way and win the Euros, that would be class. We’re all getting really behind the girls as well. I’m a big fan of the Lionesses. And most of our girls are as well. It’s great to watch.”Sune Luus, South Africa’s captain, admitted that her team’s failure to seize their chance in the World Cup semi-final still hurt, and that they would be fully focussed on exacting a measure of revenge in the coming matches.”We just had a team meeting about it, saying how much we want to get that win on the board,” Luus said. “Obviously in the semi-final, we had a lot of opportunities and just didn’t take it. I feel like that game could have gone a whole other way, and our World Cup journey could have been a bit different.”The mindset that we’re going with tomorrow is just about taking every opportunity we have, make sure we get on top, and don’t give them that satisfaction again.”

Knight hopeful of returning before South Africa match, Sciver to lead England against Sri Lanka

Valkerie Baynes29-Jul-2022Heather Knight will miss England’s opening match of the Commonwealth Games, against Sri Lanka on Saturday, with a hip injury.Knight, the England captain, suffered the injury during the first T20I against South Africa on July 21 and subsequently missed the remaining two matches of that series, which her side won in her absence.Knight is hopeful of being fit for England’s second game, against South Africa on Tuesday.That means Nat Sciver, Knight’s deputy, will captain England on their maiden appearance at the Commonwealth Games.England swept the T20I leg 3-0 in their multi-format series against South Africa, which the hosts won by 14 points to two, having also won all three ODIs and drawn the Test match.They managed comfortably in Knight’s absence, winning the second T20I by six wickets with six balls remaining, Sciver, the stand-in captain on both occasions, top-scoring for England with 47 alongside Danni Wyatt’s 24-ball 39 as England overhauled a target of 149.Related

• Katherine Brunt: 'I've considered retirement constantly' over 'most challenging year of my career'

• Cricket at the 2022 Commonwealth Games – all you need to know

• Can England shake things up enough to challenge Australia?

• South Africa women – on the brink of an implosion or the cusp of a change?

In the final match, they promoted 17-year-old Alice Capsey, playing just her second international match and batting for the first time, to No. 3 when opener Sophia Dunkley fell for a first-ball duck. Capsey impressed with 25 off 17 balls, which included four consecutive fours, and spinner Sophie Ecclestone helped seal a 38-run victory with her unbeaten 33 off just 12 before taking 2 for 24.Speaking before being ruled out of the Games opener, Knight said she believed her side would take a “massive amount of confidence” from their performances in the South Africa series.”The main thing is we take that same mindset into a big world event, we take what we’ve done so well and perform it under pressure,” Knight said. “You know that if you don’t start well in those sorts of events you can be under the pump so it’s so important that what we’ve done, we build on and we continue to have that mindset.”There’s still ways I think we can improve and I’d love to see us piece it all together in a big world event.”Capsey is one of two 17-year-olds in the England squad, along with left-arm seamer Freya Kemp, who took two wickets on debut in their last ODI bowling alongside another newcomer to the bowling ranks, 20-year-old quick Issy Wong.”It’s really exciting,” Knight said. “The young girls have really added something to the squad. They’ve added that energy, that rawness, that fearlessness and for us older girls it’s keeping us young and keeping us excited.”I’m loving being part of the early stage of their careers and trying to help as much as I can and just let them loose and give them the confidence to do what they do and show off. I think we’ve got that nice combination of excited youth and hopefully a few wise old heads as well.”

“Hope we brought some smiles on the faces of our people,” says man of the moment Rajapaksa

Shashank Kishore12-Sep-20223:52

Rajapaksa: ‘We wanted to show to the world we have aggression’

The economic crisis has formed the backdrop for much of Sri Lanka’s Asia Cup campaign. But their brand of cricket and some landmark wins – like the ODI series triumph over Australia at home and now the Asia Cup title – have come as a balm. On Sunday, in fact, the Sri Lanka women’s team were crowned Asian netball champions. For a people desperately seeking solace through sporting glory, this was a night to remember.For the cricketers, it was not just that they won, but the manner in which they managed to turn the screws. Written off at the halfway mark of their innings, with 67 for 5 on the board, Sri Lanka launched a sensational comeback courtesy Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Wanindu Hasaranga. The pair put on 58 off just 30 balls, which eventually pushed them to 170 for 6, which proved 23 too many for Pakistan.Related

• Anatomy of a miracle: how Sri Lanka won an Asia Cup they shouldn't have

• How the Hasaranga-Rajapaksa stand snatched the momentum from Pakistan

• Rajapaksa, Hasaranga, Madushan win Asia Cup for SL

• Stats – A rare bat-first win in Dubai, and Sri Lanka's remarkable comeback

“We always wanted to show the world – a couple of decades back, we had aggression in our side, and we wanted to create those moments [again] as a unit,” Rajapaksa said after the win. “Looking forward, we want to keep up this momentum ahead of the World Cup. With the crisis happening back home, this is a tough time for all the Sri Lankans, but hope we brought some smiles on the faces of our people. This is to the whole nation; they were waiting for this for so long.”Smiling beside Rajapaksa was his captain, Dasun Shanaka. In his hour of glory as a leader, he heaped praise on the team for responding so well to some tough backroom words after being ambushed by Afghanistan on the opening night.”After that first loss, we had a serious discussion,” Shanaka revealed. “We knew we had the talent, but it was about applying those in game scenarios and all the players stood up. It’s the environment we created as a team and coaching staff that has paid off.”While at it, Shanaka also gave a message back to the fans. It seemed more like a plea. “Believe in our cricketers,” he said. “A lot of bad things are going around. As cricketers, they too should enjoy their lives as well, not spreading bad things. They have private lives too. Keep believing, that is the key. As a captain, I give confidence to the players, [whatever] I can. I can’t ask more than that.”Those weren’t empty words. Shanaka’s motivational skills were tested at different times in the final. In the very first over of their defence, a nervous Dilshan Madushanka conceded nine runs without bowling a single legitimate delivery, with a free hit to follow.3:18

Maharoof: ‘These young lions will be treated like heroes’

At one point, even as the wicketkeeper and several fielders ran to Madushanka with suggestions, it needed a polite hand gesture from Shanaka and some words for the players to disperse and allow the nervous bowler some breathing space. He held his composure thereafter to concede just three more in the over.Madhushanka has been one of their standout bowlers in the competition. The 21-year-old left-arm swing bowler is just six T20Is old, but has pace, and the ability to curve the ball back in late to the right-hand batters. His new-ball partner Pramod Madushan isn’t as young at 28, but is new too – Sunday was just his second T20I. But, under pressure, Madushan, skiddy and with the ability to hit the deck hard, dismissed Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman off consecutive deliveries to dent Pakistan early.If it wasn’t for injuries to Kasun Rajitha and Dushmantha Chameera, it’s possible this unlikely pairing may not have shared the new ball; perhaps they may not even played at all.”Madushan brings promise, skill and maturity,” Shanaka said. “We knew him from the start of his domestic career, but we had to take a risk to get the rewards. Madushan’s skills were there [to see] and he’s got a good career ahead. Glad he delivered in just his second game; glad he rewarded us for the risk we have taken [in picking him].”Dasun Shanaka’s motivational skills were tested at different times in the final•Getty Images

Shanaka was confident the win has the ability to be the stepping stone for greater things. For starters, he wasn’t fussed about playing the opening round of the T20 World Cup despite being Asian champions. Secondly, he was hopeful that this could be the turnaround that Sri Lanka cricket, which has seemingly been in a transition phase for a long time now, has been looking for.”Even two-three years back, the team used to play good cricket, but the winning factor wasn’t there,” he said. “This could be the turnaround in our cricket, this lot can continue to play for five-six years, which is a very good sign as well.”Shanaka’s humility came through when he was asked about his thoughts on Sri Lanka being unlikely winners, and how all talk had been about the Asia Cup being a mini-India-Pakistan series.”It’s not like that,” he said with a smile. “When it comes to India-Pakistan, we know it’s a different game. Our cricketing history is also good, so we didn’t have anything to prove about us being a good team. The only thing is we weren’t probably ranked high enough, but with this team, we can do better and become that high-ranking team [we aspire to be].”