Sri Lanka need to be in top four, both in ODIs and T20Is: Dimuth Karunaratne

Dimuth Karunaratne, the Sri Lanka skipper, wants the national team to get into the top four in ODI and Test cricket. The last few years haven’t been easy for their cricket and it can be comprehended from the fact they have changed skippers way too frequently. Even in the 2019 edition of the World Cup, Lanka had their travails, barring the victory against England in Leeds.

The 32-year-old believes that the Islanders could go on and get their hands on the World Cup as well. Karunaratne was also all praises for Mickey Arthur, who has been Lanka’s head coach since their Test series against Pakistan last year.

Dimuth said that Arthur, who was earlier the coach of the Pakistan team, has tried to instill self-belief in them. Arthur, whose contract for Pakistan expired after the 2019 World Cup, conjured appreciation from the Lankan captain.

Rankings is the key word: Dimuth Karunaratne

“Mickey is a no-nonsense cool bloke with loads of experience to back him and his brand. At the international level planning and role clarity is a norm. What is very important is the belief he has instilled among us in his own and subtle way.

It sure helped and the results always speak for itself,” Karunaratne was quoted as saying to Sri Lanka Cricket in a Q&A session on their official website cricket.lk.

“Rankings is the key word. I’d say Sri Lanka needs to be in the top four of not just ODI cricket, but Test cricket as well. That would indirectly mean semi-finalists to say the least and you are perhaps two games away from the plum. There onwards, it’s anybody’s guess and if you do well on your day you could end up being World champs,” he added.

In ODI cricket, Lanka are ranked eighth, but recently, they beat the West Indies 3-0 at home. However, they lost to the Caribbean team 0-2 in the T20I series. As far as Karunaratne is concerned, he has nine Test centuries at an average of 36.78. He has played some game saving knocks for his side in the last few months. He is now aiming to get 25 Test tons and an average above 50.