SLvsIND: India is not fielding a B team against Sri Lanka in ODIs and T20Is: Arvinda de Silva.
SLvsIND: Following the heat sparked by former Sri Lankan cricketer Arjuna Ranatunga referring to the Indian team travelling to Sri Lanka as a B-team, Arvinda de Silva, his former Sri Lanka teammate, has opposed the stance of Ranatunga.
Silva said there are no reasons why Sri Lanka should underestimate this Indian team. With the enormous talent pool and brilliant cricketers, this team will be hard to defeat by Sri Lanka.
“There is no way we can call this as a second-string Indian side. India has enormous talent and this side is as good as any. In fact, it will be a challenge for us to beat this Indian team,” said Arvindra de Silva in a recent media session.
“We can take an enormous amount of confidence going into the T20 World Cup 2021 if we can beat India.”
The ICC T20 World Cup 2021 is slated to be held in the UAE and Oman, starting October 17, two days after the final of the Indian Premier League 2021.
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India due to pandemic reasons is fielding two teams simultaneously. The senior one led by Virat Kohli is in England for the upcoming five matches test leg, starting August 4 while the second led by Shikhar Dhawan is touring Sri Lanka for three matches ODI and as many games T20I series.
De Silva believes that the plan with which India is moving forward could be a future during these dire times due to pandemic.
“Bubble life is very challenging for the players. It takes a toll mentally. So it is not only India but other countries too are rotating their players to give them time to spend with their families. I believe fielding two teams could be a future of international cricket,” added the former cricketer.
He added that the country’s cricket board is trying to convince Mahela Jayawardene to take up the coaching role for the U19 level, just like India did with Rahul Dravid.
“Rahul Dravid has instilled knowledge and strategy in them. Similarly, we have been trying to convince Mahela Jayawardene to take up the role of SL-U19 couch but couldn’t find any success.”
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