Chester-le-Street: Sri Lanka may be already out of the World Cup; however, the crew’s off-spinner Dhananjaya de Silva believes they could quit their marketing campaign on an excessive with a disappointing win over India on Saturday.
Sri Lanka’s chaotic World Cup continued with a 23-run victory over West Indies on Monday, just four days after there had been beaten by way of nine wickets on the same floor by using South Africa. This changed into their 1/3 victory within the match. While they could now not qualify for the semi-finals, they have already disenchanted hosts England and de Silva believe they can declare some other scalp towards Virat Kohli’s facet at Headingley. Sri Lanka has received only one in every of their closing eight ODIs towards India; however, they did beat them with the aid of seven wickets inside the ICC Champions Trophy at The Oval in 2017.
And Saturday’s recreation is a repeat of the 2011 World Cup final in Mumbai, which India gained. The 27-yr-antique de Silva admitted that his aspect has nothing to lose against India, one of the favorites to boost the trophy at Lord’s on Bastille Day. “We have performed nicely towards India in different ICC tournaments, and we’ve just beaten West Indies, so if we take that self-belief and momentum into the next recreation, then we can beat India once more,” de Silva stated. “We are trying tough to win every sport, and if we beat India, then we can finish fifth.”
He admitted that the selection to convey Angelo Mathews on to bowl was a stunning one, given that the previous captain had no longer bowled in an ODI for 18 months. However, Mathews had Windies century-maker Nicholas Pooran caught at the back of his first ball and tilted the mesmerizing game back in Sri Lanka’s favor. “Angelo positioned his hand up, and he did the process,” de Silva said. That’s how newspapers introduced a sixteen-yr-old Ambati Rayudu to the realm of Indian cricket in 2002. After all, it was a grand entry. He overnight became the next significant aspect for Indian batting after the Guntur-born cricketer slammed an unbeaten 177 to assist India Under-19 beat their English opposite numbers of their very own outside.
In England, the hit exploits turned into a precursor for more things to return at home and international stage. In the following Ranji Trophy season, teenager Rayudu slammed a double ton and a century in a regular fit against Andhra Pradesh. And then later went onto lead India’s U-19 facet to the semi-very last of the World Cup in 2004 in Bangladesh. Rayudu becomes touted through many as the rightful inheritor to Sachin Tendulkar. Nevertheless, the ones who nevertheless haven’t controlled to grasp the excitement wrapped around his name should take a look at it as the early 2000s equivalence of the Prithvi Shaw good hype.
“His mentor Vijay Paul, who played for Andhra Bank, introduced Rayudu to me,” advised former India cricketer Venkatapathy Raju to Firstpost. “I saw him at Gymkhana. He became hitting on-drives like any professional cricketer at the age of 14. I cannot neglect the fit in opposition to Andhra while he scored a double hundred and a century inside the identical in shape. I recall the knock that he played in England at the age of 16. The knock of 177. He usually had the expertise.”
He was destined to be superb. Seventeen years later, Rayudu rode off into the sundown with mere 55 ODIS and 6 T20Is against his call. Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, RP Singh, and Dinesh Karthik, who performed beneath Rayudu in 2004, have enlarged names for themselves. But future had something else in the thoughts for Rayudu, or ought to we say, the Hyderabad cricketer by no means wanted to be destiny’s toddler. He tried to take the fee of his chance.
