Waninidu Hasaranga champion leg-spinner, who took four wickets in the second T20 game against Australia on Wednesday said, “We have to bring our batting and bowling up to the same level”.
“We want to fix the weakness in the lower-middle order and lower order before the T20 World Cup which is our main target,” the 24-year-old leg spinner said.
“We have another 2-3 white-ball format series before the T20 World Cup and I am sure we can reach the top level as expected,” said Hasaranga.
“We never like to get defeaters and always play to get the victory and honor to the country. Especially, right now, our batsmen are a little bit out of form, and we have to accept that. Our target is the World Cup. If we can add 10% more on the batting side in the next match, and in the series coming up, we’ll be in a much better place. In these two games, our batting had a few small mistakes and we have to work hard and come back to the next game,” added Hasaranga.
“We played on the same wicket at these two T20 matches but couldn’t get a challenging total and this was the main reason for these defeats. We saw Australia spinners also made a big turn in the second game that’s why we decided to use more spinners in the second game.”
“When I bowled at the first T20 against Australia, they hit 27 runs off my two overs. When you’re chasing a small total, any team has less pressure on them. The pressure is on us. So they attack. But then a team like this will anyway try to attack me in the first two overs, because if they push me out of the game early on they gain the high ground. That’s what I feel,” Hasaranga said.
“But then I like it when they attack me. Rather than batsmen closing up and defending, I can get wickets when they attack. I can put the team in a better position that way.”
Hasaranga further added, “Lasith Malinga as a Strategy Bowling Coach gives a big boost to us. He is a T20 legend and has a lot of experience in this format. But he gives his best support to the spinners as well as the batsmen and his presence as a coach always strengthens the team.”
Friday, June 10, 2022 – 01:00