Sri Lanka has not yet won a gold medal at the Asian Games since 2002. The women’s cricket team led by dashing left-handed opening batswomen Chamari Atapattu took wing to Incheon, South Korea with the hope of winning the gold medal.
The 2014 Asian Games in Incheon has already started but the women’s cricket tournament will start on September 20th with the qualifying round while Sri Lanka will play their first game in the quarter-finals stage on September 23rd.
Sri Lanka women’s long-standing captain Shashikala Siriwardene stepped down from her position after finishing as the 8th placed team at the ICC World T20 in Bangladesh earlier this year. National selectors named Chamari Atapattu who will be leading the Sri Lanka team for the 1st time and Udeshika Prabodhani was named as the vice-captain of the team. Atapattu has played 29 ODIs and 35 Twenty20s for her country while Prabodhani is a left-arm seamer who has played 28 ODIs and 34 T20s for Sri Lanka.
Prior to their departure, www.thepapare.com spoke with Chamari Atapattu on their chances of winning the gold medal in Incheon, “As the captain, I believe we can win the tournament as we have a very good balanced team. Our former captain Shashikala Siriwardene is in great form as she is one of the best all-rounders in the world. My opening partner Yashoda Mendis can be lethal with the bat while Eshani Lokusuriya is a big match player and she can win us matches single handedly.“
Sri Lanka women’s team will be playing in unfamiliar conditions in South Korea and the skipper explained how they prepared for the challenge in Incheon, “Pitches will be very slow as it is not a country where cricket is the main sport. We have been training in slow pitches for the last couple of weeks. Usually we use the Kookaburra ball here in Sri Lanka but during the Asian Games we will be using the Platinum ball so we trained from that particular ball.”
Sri Lanka team will be coached by former Sri Lanka cricketer Jeevantha Kulatunga who played as the Vice-Captain of the Sri Lanka men’s team during the previous Asian Games in 2010, China.
www.thepapare.com queried the Lankan head coach on how they will be targeting a gold medal in Incheon, “It is a bit tough question to answer at this point of time due to the unaccustomed conditions in South Korea but we are definitely hoping to win the gold medal. The girls have done their hard work and preparations for the last two months. Pakistan and Bangladesh will be the tougher opponents. We have a strong squad that has been playing together for Sri Lanka for some time now, I’m very confident of my team. “
As the Asian giants India not participating in the tournament, Sri Lanka and Pakistan will be firm favourites to win the gold medal.
Full Squad:
Chamari Atapattu (Captain)
Yashodha Mendis
Lasanthi Madushani
Eshani Lokusuriya
Dilani Manodara
Chamari Polgampola
Sripali Weerakody
Udeshika Probodani (Vice Captain)
Shashikala Siriwardana
Maduri Samuddhika
Inoka Ranaweera
Anushka Sanjeewani
Nilakshi Silva
Chandima Gunarathne
Inoshi Fernando
Roshan Iddamalgoda(Manager)
Jeevantha Kulatunga (Head Coach)
Abdultayeb Hassanally Tasneem (Physiotherapist)
