Speaking exclusively to NewsWire, Sri Lanka national cricket teams Consultant Coach Mahela Jayawardena says that the players are in a good state of mind ahead of their super 12 encounters of the tournament.
“After the failure in the 1st game, we’ve discussed about what went wrong and the changes need to be made in the approach, especially in Australian conditions” Mahela said.
Speaking on the injury to opener Pathum Nissanka, Mahela said that the team the management is waiting for the assessment of medical staff, to decide whether he can take part in Sunday’s game against Ireland.
Commenting on the injury concerns in general within the Sri Lanka squad, Mahela added that the management is looking at options to bring back up players from Colombo and keep them on standby as any more injuries would require replacements and it would be easier to replace if they are available in Australia.
“We will have to change our strategies based on playing conditions and pitches of different grounds as well a how our players perform” he said, commenting on different strategies to adopt when playing against England, Australia and New Zealand, who are stronger against pace.
“We are first looking at winning 3 matches in this group. If we win 4, we have a very good chance of qualifying for the semifinals” he further said.
Speaking about his role in the team and the improvement the team has shown recently, Mahela said that it’s due to the combination of efforts of the coaching staff and decisions taken by the selection committee headed by Pramodya Wickremesinghe and the policy decisions & changes made by the previous technical committee, which is showing positive results now. (NewsWire)