Sri Lanka’s bench strength pleases Karunaratne after 3-0 sweep

Sri Lanka captain expressed satisfaction at the bench strength displayed during Bangladesh series.

COLOMBO (Web Desk) - Following his team’s clean sweep of the three-match one-day international series against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne expressed satisfaction at the bench strength displayed during the course of the triumph.

Sri Lanka had three batsmen amass over 100 runs in the series, as opposed to only one such player for Bangladesh. Moreover, the performances of some of their youngsters, such as Avishka Fernando, who once again provided a glimpse of his immense potential with a match-winning 75-ball 82 in the second ODI, came as encouraging signs for their future.

In the third ODI, Dasun Shanaka and Wanindu Hasaranga came good with bat and ball. Sri Lanka will also take heart from the fact that Player of the Series Angelo Mathews carried his late World Cup form here to finish as the highest run-scorer from either side – just the kind of initiative they needed the senior player to show after losing yet another high-profile star in Lasith Malinga.

"The young players grabbed their chances really well," Karunaratne said after the third ODI on Wednesday, 31 July. "If there s a lot of competition and there s a strong bench, if a player is injured I can easily bring another player.

“I think this is the way we have to build a good line-up. This is the time we have to bring some youngsters for the next couple of years. We ve had an issue recently, where we didn t have that strong bench. But players are now ready, and they ll grab the chances that come their way."

Karunaratne also pointed to players such as Niroshan Dickwella and Danushka Gunathilaka, both of whom have spent the last few months out of the team, to further reinforce the wide pool of talent available to tap into as they begin to build and plan for the next four-year cycle, culminating in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, in India.

"You need a lot of players to build up that competition within a team so that players are constantly putting pressure on each other to perform," he said. "If you have a strong bench, the players who are in the team have to take that responsibility. There are a lot of players trying to get that chance, so there s pressure on the XI. I have a team I can work with. The youngsters have a great energy about them as well."

Karunaratne did, however, admit that Sri Lanka aren’t particularly well-stocked at the moment in terms of wicket-taking bowlers. That was manifested in the fact that three of the four highest wicket-takers in the series against Bangladesh belonged to the visiting team.

Especially with Malinga having now retired from ODIs, Sri Lanka are in great need of a bowler who can show similar incision. “We need to find bowlers who can get us wickets," Karunaratne said. "We have to find those players who deliver in tough situations. Today, pretty much everyone had a bowl, and they came up with wickets. That s what I expect when I make a bowling change – that whoever comes on will build pressure and make those breakthroughs."