Jos Buttler, one of England’s premier batsmen, indicated that the hosts will not be taking the visiting Sri Lankans lightly, with the 3-match T20I series between the sides set to begin on Wednesday (23).
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Speaking to the media ahead of the series, Buttler mentioned that though Sri Lanka is in search of young players to carry Sri Lanka cricket forward, the country has always had a good caliber of players coming through.
“I always think Sri Lankan cricket is strong. Any time you lose players like Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, two guys incredibly difficult to replace, and in (Lasith) Malinga, a superstar of the game who has gone out of it in recent times, actually it takes time to find those next ones to come to that standard of play,” he said.
Though Sri Lanka is a young side, Butler expects a tough challenge from the visiting team.
“Sri Lankan cricket always has exciting, talented players; they are a very dangerous side to play against. I am expecting a very tough challenge and some great cricket in this upcoming month,” Buttler added.
The explosive wicket-keeper batsman indicated that England have their eye on Sri Lankan white-ball captain Kusal Perera and leg spinning all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga as the ones to watch out for in the upcoming series.
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“Sri Lanka is always producing exciting cricketers and Kusal Perera has been around for a little while. I always see him as a dangerous player to play against, someone who is very attacking and can take the game away from you.”
“Someone we have not seen as much of is that very exciting player leg-spinning all-rounder Hasaranga. He played his first Test during the winter and he is highly talked about by Mickey Arthur. Just two names but I am sure that Sri Lanka has a very talented squad,” he further added.
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