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Both Sri Lanka and Australia remain winless as they head into the group stage face-off. But unlike Pat Cummins’ side, which has struggled in all departments, the Sri Lankan batting unit has done quite well in the previous two games, managing scores in excess of 320 against South Africa and Pakistan.
“I have a lot of confidence in our batting, I think we can do everything. I think we have a better batting unit — in form and bowling unit also,” Mendis said on the eve of the game against Australia.
Mendis himself has been in imperious form with the bat, scoring two centuries and a fifty in the last three ODI outings, including the warm-up game against Afghanistan.
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The Sri Lankan captaincy fell into Mendis’ lap after regular skipper Dasun Shanaka was ruled out of the tournament due to an injury but the wicketkeeper-batter doesn’t feel the pressure of leading the side will affect his batting.
“I’m very happy that I got the captaincy. I will continue to play the same way as I used to because captaincy is not something new for me. I have captained other teams before, even in the practice game in Guwahati, I led the team. There will be no change to my playing style.”
Injuries to frontline bowlers have forced Sri Lanka to field a relatively inexperienced attack, which has struggled to stem the flow of runs in their last two games.
“We all know, every bowling unit will struggle on Indian pitches due to the batting-friendly surfaces. We quickly need to adapt and I strongly believe that the bowlers will do their part to their maximum ability.
“Not only against us but even top-quality attacks have been taken apart and conceded 300 or 350 plus on these pitches. We cannot expect many changes instantly but as the captain, my duty will be to understand what they do at training and try to get them to do their best.”