BENGALURU: Sri Lanka will aim to put the disappointment of their World Cup hammering by India behind them and focus on finishing as high as possible in the table to secure a spot in the 2025 Champions Trophy in Pakistan, assistant coach Naveed Nawaz said.

The 1996 world champions, who came through a qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe to reach the showpiece in India, were dismissed for 55 and suffered a 302-run loss to the hosts on Thursday that left them seventh in the table on four points.

The seven highest finishers in the World Cup will join hosts Pakistan in the Champions Trophy.

“It’s going to be important that we finish above the eight to qualify for the Champions Trophy. We’ve got to find a factor to motivate the boys and keep them alive because we had the same issue in June when we played the qualifiers,” Nawaz said.

“So there was no guarantee when we went into Zimbabwe to qualify for the World Cup. We had to win all our games and as well we came to the finals to qualify for this tournament.

“We’ve crossed that barrier and we’ve got a pretty young team. So, we’ll get the boys motivated and see what we can do in the next two games, try and bring out our best cricket.”

India had bundled out the island nation for 50 to seal a 10-wicket victory in the final of the regional Asia Cup in Colombo before the World Cup and Nawaz said Sri Lankan cricket was not in decline although there was cause for concern.

“We’ve got a young group of players. We’ve got only a few guys who have played over 100 One-day Internationals in this group,” Nawaz said.

“I think it’s a rebuilding stage where we are, a couple of new players are still learning the trade.

“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 and move forward and do well in the future.”

Nawaz, meanwhile, lauded India’s pace trio of Mohammad Shami, Mohammad Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah

Sri Lanka’s top-order had no answers as Bumrah and Siraj reduced then to 3-4 before the remorseless Shami (5-18) followed up.

“Bumrah, Siraj, and of course Shami, they’re very skilful. They always get the batsman to play the ball, and the ball’s always attacking the stumps.

“They all can swing the ball both ways and also, we have seen their death over skills, the middle overs as well as the death.”

SHAMI RECORD

Shami, meanwhile, insisted “it’s not rocket science” as he became India’s most successful World Cup bowler as he moved to 45 wickets, going past the mark of 44 set by Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan.

“Not rocket science,” said Shami, who now has 14 wickets in just three games at this World Cup, when asked for the secret of his success.

“It’s just a matter of rhythm, good food, keep your mind uncluttered, and, most importantly, the love of the people.

“The support we get in India has a huge role. When you go out of India, you get so much support from Indians. So I will keep trying to make everyone happy.”

Batsman Shubman Gill, who hit a run-a-ball 92 against Sri Lanka, said the bowlers had made their work easier in the tournament.

“Our bowlers have been doing a phenomenal job,” Gill said. “They’ve always restricted the opposition to below-par scores, which has made our job as batsmen easy We were anticipating wickets almost on every ball… the way our fast bowlers have bowled throughout the World Cup has been sensation to watch, especially from the slips.”

Fellow batter Shreyas Iyer, who made a blistering 82, was thankful he only had to face India’s quicks in the nets.

“Looking at today’s bowling and the previous game, definitely, we are lucky not to play against them,” Iyer told reporters. “But at the same time, we bat against them in the nets. So, it gives us an added motivation to come and play any sort of bowlers.”

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2023