Under-19s high on confidence after strong World Cup build-up

By Amindha de Alwis

Sri Lanka Under-19 Head Coach Avishka Gunawardene expressed that morale was high in the Dunith Wellalage-led camp even as the team undergoes mandatory quarantine ahead of the ICC Under-19 World Cup in the West Indies.

The Under-19 outfit enjoyed series victories over Bangladesh and England late last year and performed admirably in the Youth Asia Cup despite falling short against India in the tournament final. 

“We have two more days left of our room quarantine. I think the short break is good for us all as we are coming off three series. I think we are in a good place mentally. In the last four months we played 14 games of which we were able to win 11 which I think has left the team high on confidence,” Gunawardene said. 

Sri Lanka has been placed in Group D alongside Australia, Scotland and hosts West Indies and Gunawardene revealed that the team were doing their best to seek information about the opposition they would encounter.
“About the West Indies we have some information as they played a series with England and they are now playing against South Africa. Even with limited footage we do have a deal of information about them and Scotland, but to be honest we have limited information about Australia as they have picked their team only after completing their domestic tournament recently, and we are still hunting for as much information as we can get,” he said.
Gunawardene said that the team’s initial goal would be to make it to the Quarter-final stage after which they would take it game by game thereafter.

“We must first qualify for the Quarter-finals. From then onwards we will take it match by match. It is true we finished somewhat low in the last few editions but that is not something we think of since if we look at what this team has achieved in the last four months, I think the chance of them going far is high,” he stated.
He also reserved praise for skipper Dunith Wellalage for his leadership on and off the field.

“I think he has been handling the team very well. It is not only handling the players in the middle, I think off the field as well the team has been bonding well. I think things have been going well. We have not had any issues and credit should also go to Dunith for keeping the team together,” Gunawardene said.

Sri Lanka will play two warm-up matches at the Guyana National Stadium versus Uganda and Ireland on January 10 and 12 before their first game in the tournament proper against Scotland on January 14.