The Sri Lanka Under 19 national cricket team will travel to Bangladesh on the 15th of January to participate in the ICC Under 19 World Cup with only one expectation, to win the trophy.
The Youth World Cup has functioned as a foundation to many cricketing superstars of yesteryear such as Sanath Jayasuriya, Mike Atherton, Brian Lara and Inzamam Ul-Haq, while a lot of current international players have begun their journey through the Under 19 World Cup and the exposure this tournament provides is invaluable to the growth of young cricketers.
A bit of history
The Sri Lanka U19 team has appeared in 10 Youth World Cups before and their best performance was in 2000 under the leadership of Malintha Gajanayake when they finished as runners-up of the tournament, losing to India in the final played in Sri Lanka.
In the 2014 tournament in the UAE, Sri Lanka finished in 8th place under Kusal Mendis’ captaincy while South Africa, led by Kagiso Rabada, bagged their maiden trophy.
The Sri Lanka U19s are one of the few teams to have played in all the previous Under 19 World Cups and are yet to wrap their hands around the coveted Youth Cricket World Cup.
Sri Lanka has been drawn into Group B alongside Afghanistan, Canada and two-time under 19 champions Pakistan, in this year’s tournament. The campaign will commence on January 28th with the game against Canada followed by their game against Afghanistan on January 30th and the most-vital game against Pakistan on February 3rd.
The top two teams in the group will qualify for the Quarter- Finals, which will start on the 5th of February.
Preparations
According to the team management, preparations for this World Cup started one year ago with the Bangladesh team touring Sri Lanka for a short stint. During the lead up to the tournament, Sri Lanka played Pakistan in a five-match series at home last October, winning it convincingly by 3 games to 0. More recently, they lost to India in the final of a home Tri-Series that also featured England.
Captain – Charith Asalanka
The dynamic left-handed batsman from Richmond College is a complete match-winner as he is also one of the key bowlers in the team, bowling right-arm off-spin. With a wide-range of strokes, Asalanka was in prime form against Pakistan last year when he scored a magnificent double-ton in the Three-Day encounter. He has led Sri Lanka in the under 15 & 17 age categories as well, which speaks for his natural leadership skills.
Solid Batting Unit
Left-handed duo of Kavin Bandara and Kamindu Mendis will most probably open the batting for the junior Lions with another left-hander Salinda Ushan waiting in the wings. The Moratuwa run-machine Avishka Fernando will bat at number 3 followed by skipper Charith Asalanka and Vice-captain Sammu Ashan.
Leg-spinning all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga will take up the most important position at number 6 followed by wicket-keeper batsman Vishad Randika. Sri Lanka has good depth in the batting department as one of the fast-bowling all-rounders, Jehan Daniel or Charana Nanayakkara will bat at number 8.
Potent Bowling Attack
The islanders possess a match winning bowling unit which is capable of defending any reasonable score posted by their batsman. The two left-arm spinners, Damitha Silva and Thilan Nimesh will be expected to stem the run-flow in the middle overs while Charith Asalanka and Sammu Ashan will be the off-spinners of the team. Kamindu Mendis’ ability to bowl with both arms will be an added advantage to the Lankans.
Right-arm fast-bowler Lahiru Kumara will spearhead the fast-bowling department alongside Asitha Fernando and Lahiru Samarakoon. One of the all-rounders, Jehan Daniel or Charana Nanayakkara could play the third-seamer’s role.
Coaching Staff
Former Sri Lanka Test and ODI spinner and experienced campaigner Roger Wijesuriya will look to produce a champion team as the head coach of the team while former SSC and Sri Lanka opener, Avishka Gunawardene will act as the assistant coach. Shane Fernando will be the Manager of the team while Wasantha Haputhanthri will represent the SLSCA. Dharshana Weerasinghe will be in charge of the conditioning with Ranjith Madurusinghe functioning as the selector on tour.
Final Say
Sri Lanka Under 19s go into the tournament as a strong candidate to win the trophy but they will need to be at their very best in order to beat Pakistan and Afghanistan in the group stage and from then onwards, it will be do or die. They have all the ingredients to succeed in Bangladesh and will look to repeat the senior team’s exhilarating triumph at the same venue in the ICC World T20 in 2014.
