Sri Lanka’s captain Charith Asalanka believes his team’s memories of winning the last T20 Asia Cup will help them start strong this year. Speaking before their opening match against Bangladesh, he said the players are carrying the confidence of champions into the tournament.
“Mentally, the fact that we are defending champions is a really good thing,” said Asalanka ahead of Saturday’s match. “It was a lot of these players that played in that last tournament here [in UAE] as well. We know that because we are champions, we can go far. The players are using that as motivation.”
The Asia Cup switches its format between ODIs and T20 matches, depending on which World Cup is coming up. In 2023, the ODI format was played before the 50-over World Cup, and India lifted the trophy. As the T20 World Cup is around the corner, the Asia Cup has switched back to the shorter format this year. Sri Lanka last won the T20 edition in 2022, so they arrive as the defending champions.
Asalanka also expected the conditions in Abu Dhabi to favour batters more than they do in Sri Lanka or Bangladesh. “When you’re rating these conditions with other venues in the UAE, I think Abu Dhabi is the best pitch for batters,” he said. “Once the ball gets softer, it’s much easier to bat here, and the outfield is very nice. Every batsman wants to play in Abu Dhabi.”
Earlier this year, both the teams faced off in three T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests, with Sri Lanka winning the ODI and Test series. Bangladesh won the T20I series. Having started with a win over Hong Kong, Bangladesh could almost assure themselves of a place in the Super 4 with victory at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
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