Rebuilding Lanka have no pressure of expectations

Sri Lanka are one of the teams competing in the Champions Trophy with very little odds favouring them. In the middle of a huge transition and youngsters struggling to adjust, the Sri Lankans have come here to England with very little expectation and hopes. Skipper Angelo Mathews said this could work in their favour. 

“You know, at the very first press conference, we are happy to walk in as the underdogs. No one really expects us to win the Champions Trophy which takes a lot of pressure out of the guys. I mean, you've got to deal with the pressure. We always have pressures when we play as players. You've just got to deal with it and be as a team. Yes, we are in the rebuilding phase for the past one or two years. Yes, we've had so many greats and they've retired. We are slowly rebuilding, but surely, we will come up with a good performance. 

“We bowled and fielded really well in the South Africa game. It's just that we didn't click as a batting unit. It was unfortunate that, after the start that we've got, we lost our way in the middle and collapsed. Yeah, it was very disappointing, but I thought the bowlers and the fielders kept us in the game. It's just that the batting didn't click.”

While there’s an obvious gulf between the current Indian and Sri Lankan teams, Mathews felt his team has done reasonably well and it’s unfair to call it as weak. “Yes, India have done extremely well in the past couple of years. If you look at our side, we've beaten the Australians, which was the No 1 team then a few months back. We beat Australia in Australia. We beat South Africa in South Africa. So I don't think there's a massive difference. It's just that there will be phases when you struggle. There will be phases when you play well.”