New Delhi, Aug 27 (IANS): Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu sees her current time with the Barbados Royals in the 2024 Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) as a splendid chance to prepare for the Women’s T20 World Cup, starting on October 3 in the UAE.
“As a team and players, our preparation is really good. We played a few bilateral series and Women’s Asia Cup as well before I came here. So these opportunities are really good to showcase our talent and how we can manage ourselves, as well as adjust to the different conditions and how to manage pressure in the middle in T20 format.
"These are the positive things I have learnt from CPL. This is really good opportunity for me because before Women’s T20 World Cup comes next month. I hope I can do my best for Barbados Royals and continue this performance in T20 World Cup as well,” said Chamari in a virtual media interaction organised by FanCode.
Sri Lanka has been in good form since mid-April 2023, winning bilateral series in both white-ball formats against Bangladesh, T20I series against England and South Africa, and ODI series against New Zealand and West Indies. Their recent success peaked with a victory over India in the Women’s Asia Cup final at Dambulla.
"In last 12 months, we played really good cricket around the world by beating top teams, so we are in good confidence and form. We continued with out best performance and confidence in Asia Cup, and finally, lifted the trophy for the very first time. We beat the world’s best team - India has a lot of good players, experience, and play a lot of franchise leagues.
"As a team, we are playing really good cricket. As a captain, I’m really proud of my girls. Unfortunately, we lost the ODI series against Ireland in different conditions and my girls struggled a lot with the weather. But as a team, we’re in good form, because we always talk about positive things in our dressing room; we never talk about negatives. Credit especially goes to our head coach (Rumesh Ratnayake), he is the key man behind these scenes," added Chamari.
Chamari, the left-handed batter and off-spin bowler, knows Sri Lanka faces tough competition in Group A of T20 World Cup, where defending champions Australia, New Zealand, India, and Pakistan are present. But she is optimistic about Sri Lanka’s performance in the ten-team competition.
"The last T20 World Cup semi-finalists (India) and the final champion (Australia) are in our group, so it will not be easy. But at the end of the day, T20 cricket is about anything can happen in any time, because one or two players can change this game. So I trust my girls and I hope we can now play best cricket in T20 World Cup,' she said.
When not representing Sri Lanka, Chamari is a globetrotting T20 player, taking part in various leagues such as Women’s Premier League, WBBL, Super Smash, The Hundred. She also played in the now-defunct Kia Super League, and Women’s T20 Challenge.
This is her second time playing in the WCPL, after previously playing for Guyana Amazon Warriors in 2022. Chamari finds there is a distinct energy of playing T20 cricket in the Caribbean.
"When we’re playing cricket here with Barbados Royals girls, no pressure is there as its calm and so much fun. The Caribbean conditions and people are different compared to other franchise leagues, so enjoying it. The atmosphere and vibe of being here is to enjoy in the middle.
"Like how they celebrate when they get wicket or go to 150, it is very different as compared to other countries. Even West Indies players play in other leagues, and we enjoy a lot with how they introduce themselves, as they have different vibe when they’re playing, and even when they’re in resting rooms."
She also credits the opportunity to play for Royals in the WCPL to Kumar Sangakkara, the former Sri Lanka men’s captain and the franchise’s director of cricket. "I love him as he’s one of the greatest ever players produced by Sri Lanka. So I got this really good opportunity to come here and play for Barbados Royals because of him."
Harshitha Samawickrama, Chamari’s opening partner in Sri Lankan team, is also taking part in the WCPL. Harshitha joined Trinbago Knight Riders when Meg Lanning withdrew. The left-handed batter made a crucial 61 in the Asia Cup final chase against India and recently scored 105 in the second ODI against Ireland.
“As a player and Sri Lankan captain, I’m really proud of her because she got this good opportunity to show what she can do. She is the second or third player playing franchise league after Udeshika (Prabodhani) and Shashikala (Siriwardene) played in Fairbreak and Women’s T20 Challenge, respectively. I hope she will play her best cricket and continues with her best performance in the WCPL," Chamari signed off