Despite their axing as players dispute with the national board over wages, Sri Lanka coach Mickey Arthur said Thursday that stars Mathews and Karunaratne could make Sri Lanka return.

For their three one-day internationals in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka left Mathews, Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal, and other top players behind. Players are refusing to sign new contracts that will reduce certain players’ earnings by 40 per cent. Sri Lanka was also forced to make changes after losing a one-day series 3-0 against the West Indies in March.

 

Sri Lanka must begin recruiting players for the ‘2023 World Cup‘

Kusal Perera has been made captain for this series, while Kusal Mendis has been recalled and appointed vice-captain.

“I think we just took the team in a direction. There’s certainly no door closed on any of them,” Arthur said in Dhaka. “Angelo and Chandi are fantastic cricketers who are very much part of our Test unit at the moment.” According to Arthur, Sri Lanka must begin recruiting players for the 2023 World Cup.

“That’s the balancing act when you are transitioning a team, how you get it right. We will keep tweaking that until you do it properly,” he said.

Sri Lanka needed a stronger middle order, according to Arthur, who highlighted Kushal Perera, Kusal Mendis, wicketkeeper-batsman Niroshan Dickwella, and Dhananjaya de Silva as the squad would “banking on.”

 

Whether it is performing under pressure or ‘Fear of failure’

They’ll be desperately trying to avoid a first-ever whitewash defeat to Bangladesh in Friday’s final match.

“We battled to come to terms with the spinners, which is very surprising for me,” said Arthur. “The batsmen I see out in the nets are totally different to the batsmen who have gone out in the middle,” he added. “Whether it is performing under pressure or fear of failure – those are things you have to take out of their mind.”

Sri Lanka also has to win to qualify for the 2023 World Cup through the International Cricket Council’s One-Day International Super League. “We want to close off here with a good, hard, disciplined performance tomorrow. We want to take a winning home,” said Arthur.

 

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