Predicted Openers for Sri Lanka in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2021.
ICC T20 World Cup 2021 Sri Lankan Openers: Sri Lankan Cricket has seen a steep decline in the performance of their cricketers in the last five years or so. The country, which was once the powerhouse of cricket greats, is now struggling to win matches.
The extent of the decline is such that Sri Lanka will have to play the qualifiers of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 along with Bangladesh, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Netherlands, Ireland, Namibia and Scotland to seal their spot in the World Cup Super 12.
The worrying trend continues as Sri Lanka cricket is also facing severe internal issues, with their players not agreeing to sign the annual contracts due to lack of transparency and disputes related to the new performance-based contracts.
The T20 World Cup 2021 is not far from here and Sri Lanka will have to bring up certain tweaks in their rules and coaching style to bring out the best from their players.
In this article, we will talk about the probable Opening pair of Sri Lanka for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2021.
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Predicted Openers for Sri Lanka in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2021:
Danushka Gunathilaka & Kusal Perera:
The Sri Lankan cricket will be confident enough to send Danushka Gunathilaka and Kusal Perera as the openers in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2021.
Danushka Gunathilaka is very consistent up in the order and looks ahead of other players for the opening spot. Although Gunathilaka has nothing fancy to showcase in the T20Is, he looks like the best candidate from the choices available with Sri Lanka.
Gunathilaka has scored 568 runs in the 29 T20I innings at an average of almost 20.
Talking about his partner, Kusal Perera is likely to open the innings along with Gunathilaka. Perera, the skipper of ODIs, has not featured in the T20Is in 2021, however, his stats in the format are way better than his other teammates.
The ODI skipper has amassed 1347 runs in 49 T20I innings at an average of 28 which includes 12 half-centuries.
Sri Lanka might also send the Avishka Fernando to open the innings as he is in good touch. Fernando has amassed 33 in the first ODI while 50 in the second ODI against India.
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