Wills Cup: Sri Lanka has come to win (23 October 1998)

23 October 1998

Wills Cup: Sri Lanka has come to win

The Daily Star

World Champions Sri Lanka have but one goal - that to win the Wills International Cup which starts at the Bangabandhu National Stadium tomorrow afternoon.

This was exuberantly stated by veteran Sri Lankan World Cup winning skipper Arjuna Ranatunga while talking to a host of local and foreign journalists at a press briefing at the Sonargaon Hotel yesterday.

"We did not come here to lose. We know that all the tough (world) teams are playing here and the format is also very new. But I can tell you we do not play to lose. That's not our trend these days," said a confident Ranatunga who led the islanders to their biggest success in cricketing history, the 1996 World Cup.

"The format says if you lose any match you go home, that's something new because in every tournament you have a chance to come back even after losing a match in the first round. But this is completely different."

When asked whether his team has any extra pressure as World champions to win the trophy, the 35-year old skipper said that there was nothing called pressure in Sri Lankan cricket." I don't know what is pressure."

About their preparation for the knock-out tournament, Ranatunga said that they did not have any cricket back home after the England tour in July because the weather is almost similar to that of Bangladesh.

"For the last three weeks it had been raining almost every day in Colombo. So we had to restrict our preparations to the indoors and gyms. However, we had some nets during last two days."

"The team morale is quite high now after we won the one-off Test and tri-nation tournament in England. That was another big achievement after the World Cup. And I think we will continue with our positive cricket here in Dhaka."

About the teams he considers most powerful, Ranatunga said that India and Pakistan also have good opportunities to win the trophy because they were also from the sub-continent.

The most experienced Sri Lankan cricketer, who also played club cricket in Dhaka for Mohammedan Sporting Club in the last couple of seasons along with his dashing opener

Sanath Jaysuriya, said that the return of experienced batsman Mahanama and left-arm medium-pacer Chaminda Vaas have made the team stronger than that in England.

"Mahanama is one of the most dependable middle-order bats and Vaas is also our main strike bowler. So, that will naturally uplift the team strength."

Answering to another question, Ranatunga said that batting was their main strength next to fielding, and positive attitude was their recipe for success in the last few years.

"We have a pretty strong batting line-up. Aravinda is the most accomplished batsman and we consider him the best. We also have Sanath, Atapattu, Kaluwitharana, Mahanama and Tillekeratne. Besides there is a good left-hander in the making in Avishka Gunawardane who did very well in the Commonwealth games. I think they are good enough to win a match," said Ranatunga.

Ranatunga, who was also a member of the Sri Lankan team that played in the second Asia Cup in Dhaka way back in 1988, added that the picture of cricket in Sri Lanka has changed a lot since their emergence as World champions.

"The whole nation is now showing interest in the game. Earlier, cricket was only played in Colombo, but now it has spread all over the country.

Roy Dias, the Sri Lankan coach, who also toured Bangladesh in 1994 in the capacity of the coach of Sri Lanka 'A' team for the third SAARC cricket tournament, said that this time his feeling was different because he was now coaching the senior team.

On the other hand, Ranjit Fernando, the manager of the team said that he has served cricket in every capacity but the post of the team manager is something very special for him.

Earlier, the Sri Lankan team arrived at the ZIA during the half-day long hartal called by the opposition parties. The team was escorted to their hotel by a contingent of Bangladesh Army.

Source :: The Bangladesh Daily Star (https://www.dailystarnews.com)