'The five matches which we are due to play in Australia will be to our advantage' - Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka

Sri Lanka skipper  Dasun Shanaka has said that the team must qualify for the Super 12 stage of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 starting October 16. The 2014 winners, who failed to directly qualify for the Super 12 round will first need to do well in the group stages. They are placed in Group A along with Namibia, the Netherlands and the UAE.

The Lankan Lions kick off their campaign against Namibia at the Geelong Cricket Ground in Victoria on October 16. However, prior to that first round clash, the reigning T20 Asia Cup champions will lock horns with Zimbabwe and Ireland in warm-up matches on October 10 and 13 respectively.

The five matches which we are due to play in Australia will be to our advantage: Dasun Shanaka

"The last T20 World Cup (in UAE) we played the qualifying round and got into the tournament proper because we adapted to the ground conditions we had an advantage," Shanaka said.

"The five matches which we are due to play in Australia will be to our advantage because we can read the conditions and the wickets going into the Super 12," he added.

Sri Lanka might not be the outright favorites on paper for the tournament, but they are not a team to be taken lightly and one must underestimate them at their own peril. This was evident during the Asia Cup last month in the UAE where they successfully proved their naysayers wrong by lifting the title.

The island nation was given no chance in the six-team tournament and the experts of the game predicted an India-Pakistan final. However, the Lankans did not get affected by the outside noise and made their performances count on the field. 

After a bitter defeat against Afghanistan in the tournament opener, there was no looking back for Sri Lanka as they went on to win all their matches from there on which were virtual knockouts to lift the continental title for the sixth time.