Sri Lanka, though have some exceptional records in the Asia Cup, also winning it thrice (joint Champions most time with India). This team is capable of doing anything on the cricket field both with the ball and with the bat. They have the unique distinction of having the highest score in all the three formats.
Coming back to Asia cup, we won’t say that this team doesn’t have the potential to win the tournament but they are comparatively weak to Pakistan and India. Last time they were beaten by Bangladesh and knocked out after losing all their league matches in spite having some big names like Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Ajantha Mendis and all.
Time to look at the Asia Cup Performance by the Sri Lankan team
Matches- 43
Won- 29
Lost- 14
Win/Loss ratio- 2.07
Batting Avg.- 32.47
RPO-5.08
Highest Score-357
Lowest Score-96
The statistics shows they are quite a good team to face in the tournament but remember- they had some great players who contributed to create these stats! Should I say the names? Okay! Sanath Jayasuriya, Aravinda de silva, Arjuna Ranatunga, Marvan Atapattu, Chaminda Vaas and the greatest Muttaih Muralitharan. So many!
Well, again coming back to the present team. The only key Players to look upon are Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and TM Dilshan. All Sri Lankan fans fans will be hoping any of the three will shine this time to get back the cup after 6 long years.
Let us see how Sri Lanka has fared against the other Asian Giants. (Overall Records)
SRI LANKA :-
Vs Bangladesh
Matches- 36
Win- 31
Lose-4
Bat.avg.- 41.05
Highest Score-357
Lowest score-147
Vs India
Matches- 143
Win-53
Lose-78
No Result-11
Bat.Avg.-30.48
Highest score-411
Lowest score-96
Vs Pakistan
Matches-137
Win-52
Lose-80
No Result-4
Bat.Avg.-27.44
RPO-4.74
Highest score-349
Lowest score-78
Not so good performances against India and Pakistan, Bangladesh had always been a minnow but recently they have promised to show spirited performances in the field.
WEAK LINKS OF SRI LANKA-
- Opening pair- Kusal Perera is not so experienced and lacks foot movement.
- Bowling Unit- With Malinga not in form and seriously bad records against India and Pakistan we cannot say Ajantha can single handedly take the bowling presuure.
- Lower middle is not experienced such as Senanayake and Ashan Priyanjan
- With Dilshan out,they will miss an experienced opener. Along with it, he was quite a handy bowler.
Positives points-
- Kumar Sangakkara is in his form of the life.
- Angelo Mathews is captaining well and the is quite spirited
- Recently they won the series in Bangladesh in Bangladesh and must have experienced the pitches.
