A humiliating 302-run defeat against India ended Sri Lanka’s hopes of reaching the World Cup 2023 semifinals, but batting coach Naveed Nawaz believes the side must rebuild and finish in the top eight to secure a Champions Trophy berth in 2025.
“It’s going to be important that we finish within the top-eight to qualify for the Champions Trophy. We got to find a factor to motivate the boys. We had the same issue in June, when we played the World Cup Qualifier. There was no guarantee when we went to Zimbabwe that we would qualify for the tournament. We had to win all our games to come here. We have crossed that barrier,” Nawaz said.
“We have got a pretty young team, so we will get back and get the boys motivated…”
READ MORE: Shubman Gill: I am not in full fitness, four kilos down after dengue
Over the last few years, things have not been rosy for Sri Lanka, especially in ODIs. It lost to India in the Asia Cup final by 10 wickets in September and, at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday, the side suffered its biggest defeat in the World Cup.
But Nawaz does not see it as a decline in Sri Lankan cricket.
“It’s a cause of concern for sure, but I don’t see it as a decline of Sri Lanka cricket. We have a young group of players, there are only a few who have played 100 matches, so we are in a rebuilding stage,” he said.
“A couple of new players are still learning the trade. So, we have some exciting prospects back home and also in this group and I hope they’ll take every opportunity to learn from the mistakes done and move forward and do well in the future. So that’s the only hope that we have…” he said, making it clear that the coaching staff will take ‘100 per cent responsibility’ for a dismal outing.
Comments
SHARE