India rallies to defeat confident Sri Lanka
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||CF Correspondent||
Title aspirant India will be hoping to keep their winning-streak intact when they take on Sri Lanka in the Under-19 Asia Cup final at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Sunday.
Both of the teams had some grueling training session at the BCB Academy nets followed by fielding drills at the SBNS to prepare them for the day-night final that will be telecasted live by Star Sports.
India, who were lucky to come this far after their two-run victory over the host in the semi-final, look to be overwhelming favorites to win the tournament when the two sides lock horns for asserting their continental supremacy in the summit clash.
“Naturally we will be eyeing to win the championship,” India U19s skipper Pavan Shah told Cricfrenzy after the training session. “The last match was quite close and to win a game from that stage only suggest we had the mental strength to overcome the odds from any stage.
“This is our last Asia Cup at the Under-19 levels and we want to end it on a high by clinching the trophy.”
The Sri Lanka U19s head coach Hashan Tillakaratne looked optimistic about their chances in the tournament and added that they are well aware of the strength and weakness of their opponents as they played against them couple of months back in a bilateral series.
“We had played against them so we know what to expect,” said Hashan. “Although we lost the series we fought well against them and we firmly believe if we can play to our potential we have all the chances of clinching the trophy.
Although they are emphasizing on winning the tournament, Hashan feels that they are not considering it as the end of road for the budding cricketers whom they are developing to serve the national cricket team in the long run.
“It is important to win the tournament but at the same time we must see how to develop the cricketers for the national team,” said Hasan.
“We are quite satisfied with the way we performed so far and it will be rewarding if we can clinch the trophy but then again we are focusing on developing their fitness and skill more than anything else,” he concluded.
