Sri Lanka and Australia are set to have a crack against each other in the 14th match of the Cricket World Cup 2023. The two teams are yet to get off the blocks and have suffered defeats in their first two games in the tournament. While Australia lost to India and South Africa, the Lankan Lions went down to the Proteas and Pakistan.
As the clash remains one sleep away, both captains are making their claims for the upcoming clash. While Cummins is desperate to get off the mark in their next game, Sri Lanka's newly appointed captain Kusal Mendis believes the team can do everything with their batting. "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 ahead of the game.
'I'm very happy that I got the captaincy': Mendis
The wicket-keeper batter got the captaincy after Dasun Shanaka was ruled out of the World Cup due to an injury. Mendis claims that he is happy to get the captaincy and will continue to play the same way he is. "I'm happy that I got runs in the first two games, I will continue my game like that, the same way. 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," he added.
The 1996 champions are without many of their frontline fast bowlers, which has depleted the side. But Cummins states that all the bowling units are going for runs in the tournament. "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," he said
