Handshakes won’t reveal Sri Lanka’s hidden dangers | Page 2 | Sunday Observer

Handshakes won’t reveal Sri Lanka’s hidden dangers

7 October, 2018
Sri Lankan captain Dinesh Chandimal and his England counterpart Eoin Morgan shake hands at the launch of the series   (Picture by Herbert Perera)
Sri Lankan captain Dinesh Chandimal and his England counterpart Eoin Morgan shake hands at the launch of the series (Picture by Herbert Perera)

Handshakes will count for little or nothing when England’s cricketers get down to face what they believe to be the hidden dangers on their tour of Sri Lanka as they go in as favourites to wrap up a five-match ODI cricket series.

It has taken the Englishmen nearly four years to be where they are, on top of the ODI rankings, and the tourists are not short of anything needed to win in the island with fast and medium paced bowlers, spinners and plenty of stroke-making batsmen lined up to get on with the job.

But at the same time England will also not be carried away by their hard earned status and know too well that their hosts may also have something they’d like to see.

“It has taken us three-and-a-half years to get to where we are now. We have gelled well as a team. Every ground we play on presents us with different challenges and pressures. We have faced up to it and have grown well”, said Morgan at the launch of the series which starts on Wednesday in Dambulla.

They initially heralded their visit to the island at a reception hosted by the British High Commissioner in Colombo James Dauris at Westminster House amid drum-beating and Jazz music.

Sri Lanka in the aftermath of an unceremonial exit from the recent Asia Cup could also not hide the fact that England have more to safeguard and prove than its own team which has come under intense pressure to turn things around.

“England is well equipped for most conditions and playing against them is a bigger challenge and the best way to measure where we are”, said Sri Lanka coach Chandika Hathurusinghe.

But none in the Sri Lankan camp will feel it harder than Dinesh Chandimal who has taken over the captaincy from Angelo Mathews and knows that the only alternative for regrouping is putting the past behind.

“We have to be in a good frame of mind for this series. It can put us on a good footing for the challenges ahead including the World Cup. We have identified the places where we went wrong and look to correct them”, said Chandimal.

Nothing will be more important for Chandimal than drawing first blood.

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