Sri Lanka, champions of the WT20 in 2014, come into this edition with home advantage and what on paper appears to be a decent group of players. But according to Chopra, they haven’t been a consistent team at all in recent years.
“Their recent form. They have no form at all. You haven’t played well against any big team. It’s worth watching to see that they haven’t beaten any top team in the last one to one-and-a-half years, apart from New Zealand. It’s a sad story. To be completely honest, they were expected to do well in the Asia Cup but they didn’t. I had a feeling they would play the final but they couldn’t,” he said on his YouTube channel.
Their leadership also saw changes and changes, with Dasun Shanaka regaining duties on the ground after failures under the leadership of Charith Asalanka.
“So Sri Lanka have failed to deliver on this and that is why they have made changes. They have gone for Dasun Shanaka instead of Charith Asalanka so that they would make him the captain because there is a big tournament coming up. So Sri Lanka is fighting their own battle,” he noted.
The concerns come amid a period of inconsistent results for Sri Lanka, including a recent series whitewash by England, where their batting and bowling both struggled to sustain the pressure in key phases.
Sri Lanka’s fast bowling is weak: Aakash Chopra
The former Delhi batsman further stated that Sri Lanka’s fast bowling will create problems for themselves, especially if Eshan Malinga won’t be fit for the World Cup. He suffered a shoulder injury during the recently concluded T20I series against England.
“The pace bowling unit could have a few issues, especially if Eshan Malinga is not available. Then Matheesha Pathirana, very inconsistent. Dushmantha Chameera, if conditions help swinging, he does very well, otherwise there is a slight weakness in fast bowling,” he concluded.
Sri Lanka, co-hosts of the marquee event, are placed in Group B along with Australia, Ireland, Oman and Zimbabwe.
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