Sri Lanka Under 19 head coach Dhammika Sudarshana confident of delivering positive results in the upcoming U19 World Cup which will be held early in January 2022.
Sri Lanka U-19 team’s preparations for the upcoming ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup get underway from next month as they are scheduled to be involve in a residential training camp in Pallekele with a selected pool of 65 players.
The 65-player pool then will be pruned down to about 25 or 30 players following a series of matches played under a bio-bubble concept.
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The selected pool of players then will continue their training till the beginning of the World Cup before that they will take part in the U-19 Asia Cup which will be held in October in Dubai.
Dhammika Sudarshana, the head coach of Sri Lanka U-19 speaking to Daily FT, mentioned that he is ready to take the responsibility of guiding the junior Sri Lankans to the next World Cup.
“I am taking this as a challenge. I have only six months to get the players ready before the World Cup in January. Considering the time factor, I have only about 50% of the time to prepare them because of the lockdown. That is a big challenge,” Sudarshana said.
“What is required at this moment is that I will have to do a lot of practice individually with the players to bring them to the required standard. This is the first time I have been appointed to this post and I take it as a challenge because it has to be done in six months, but I have the confidence I can do it,” he added.
“My contract is for two years and finishes with the 2022 Under-19 World Cup. In September 2020, I was appointed Under-19 interim coach, but so far as a squad, we have not practised at all due to the pandemic. If I have a two-year uninterrupted cycle, I can do a lot for Under-19 cricket from the player development side,” he further said.
Sudarshana who serves as the head coach of the Sri Lanka U-19 team will also work as the batting coach of the team. Former Sri Lankan players Sachith Pathirana (spin-bowling coach), Chamila Gamage (fast-bowling coach) and Upul Chandana (fielding coach) will assist Sudarshana in the national U-19 setup.
