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KINGS OF ASIA

The Journey Of Sri Lanka’s 6th Asian Cricket Title

Intro

Sri Lanka is a south Asian country, we all know what is the most famous sport among south Asians, yeah, it’s cricket. There is a cricket frenzy in south Asia. When it comes to Sri Lanka, there is cricket madness in Sri Lanka similar to other south Asian countries like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Also, Sri Lanka has a very proud history of cricket. Sri Lanka became a world cricket giant after winning the 1996 cricket world cup. After the 1996 world cup Sri Lanka cricket succeeded in making incredible records in world cricket as well as producing world-class cricket legends.

2007 – 2014 Golden Era

Between 2007 – 2014 time period Sri Lanka reached 5 ICC world cup finals. But unfortunately, out of those 5 world cups, they won only the 2014 t20 wc final. 

  • 2007 WC – Runners up
  • 2009 T20 WC– Runners up
  • 2011 WC- Runners up
  • 2012 T20 WC – Runners up
  • 2014 T20 WC – Champions

after so many heartbreaks in the ICC WC finals, they finally, ended their ICC WC trophy drought in 2014 by beating India. 2014 was the last year of Sri Lankan cricket’s golden era. In 2014 they won their 5th Asian title, won the world cup, beat England 5-2 at Sri Lanka in ODI’s, and beat England in England in all formats of the game. This series produced incredible memories for all Sri Lankans. In that series, Sri Lanka won the test series against England (1-0) and became the only Asian team to beat England in England in tests at that time. 

2015 – 2020 Downfall

After the retirements of our cricket legends Sri Lankan, the next-generation failed to compete side by side with other teams.  There were some remarkable victories in this period, (whitewashed Australia in tests, whitewashed Pakistan in tests at UAE, and whitewashed South Africa in tests at their home), but there was a wave of defeats due to leadership weaknesses, management weaknesses, and also lack of responsibility of our young players. In this period Sri Lanka,

  • Lost One-Day Series Against Zimbabwe.
  • Lost All 9 Games Against India.
  • Getting Out Of The 1st Round In The 2018 Asia Cup.
  • Poor Performance In 2019 WC.
  • Lost A Test Match Against Bangladesh For The First Time.
  • Failed To Qualify T20i WC Directly

Due to these defeats, many players lost their place in the team and there were many changes in captaincy. 

2021 Durham Incident 

In the year 2021, Sri Lanka toured England for T20i series and ODI series. This was a tournament that laid the foundation for a new era of Sri Lankan cricket and a wave of victories. This tournament also shows a very poor playing style by Sri Lanka like the previous tournaments were done. During this tournament, 3 players came out of the bio bubble and were found guilty of violating the rules and their cricket was banned for about 2 years. After this incident, the team was accused by the Sri Lankan media and fans, and Sri Lanka ended the tour without a single victory. After that Sri Lankan management decided to appoint Dasun Shanaka as our new limited-overs captain. Under Dasun Shanaka’s captaincy, a few stars were emerging in the team like Charith Asalanka, Maheesh Theekshana, and Pathum Nissanka also our spin wizard Wanindu Hasaranga became a number1 T20i bowler during that period. 

New Leader

The Indian team came to the island as Shanaka’s first challenge. Sri Lanka lost the ODI series 2-1. But finally, Sri Lanka managed to win the 20-20 series 2-1 and it was recorded as the first ever 20-20 series victory against India. After that Shanaka’s next challenge was the 2021 T20 WC. The Sri Lankan team, which easily entered the 2nd round, got the 1st victory of the second round against Bangladesh. After that, there were unfortunate defeats against Aus, SA and Eng but finally managed to win comprehensively against Windies and ended their 2021 WC journey. But many cricket commentators praised the young Sri Lankan team’s effort throughout the tournament. And after that Dasun and co start 2022 year with a series win against Zimbabwe. After that Sri Lanka managed to win another ODI series and this time against South Africa.

Then an unforgettable tournament in the history of Sri Lankan cricket has begun. At a time of economic crisis and people’s struggles in the country, the Australian team is coming to Sri Lanka to play a full cricket tournament. (3t20s, 5 ODIs 2 tests) even though Sri Lankan fans have thousands of problems, they are prepared for this tournament with high expectations. Sri Lanka lost the first 2 matches of the opening 20-20 series. But in the final match, Sri Lanka was able to win the final t 20 match because of captain Shanaka’s miracle. There, the skipper scored unbeaten 54 runs. Undoubtedly that was one of the greatest knocks in t20i history. And when it comes to the one-day series Sri Lanka registered a 3-2 historic victory against the mighty Aussies. It was recorded as Sri Lanka won an ODI series against the Aussies for 1st time after 2010. That was an iconic series. Young Lankan Lions Beat ODI Giants! 

Asia Cup 2022

Sri Lanka missed out on hosting the 2022 Asia cup in Sri Lanka due to the bad situation in the country. Hence it was changed to the UAE, but the host nation remains the same. This tournament was the first match of this tournament between Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka. And the match result was? Yeah……  the Afghan team got a very easy win. After the match, Sri Lanka’s NRR was -4. For the SL team to go to super 4, Afg needs to beat Bangladesh and SL need to beat Bangladesh. That was the only way to live Sri Lanka’s Asia cup hopes. Accordingly, the match of the tournament was held between Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka. There, Kusal Mendis, who has been talked about a lot in the Durham incident and before, succeeded in becoming the anchor of Sri Lanka’s 184-run chase. The match bounced between 2 teams until the final over. The man came from nowhere, Asitha Fernando scored 10 runs in 3 balls and took the game from Bangladesh. And Sri Lanka reached to super 4’s. In the super 4 round, Sri Lanka first defeated Afghanistan, the team that hammers Sri Lanka in the first round. That was sort of a comeback! Sri Lanka had to face India in the next match. It was a must-win game for India to stay in the super 4 round. India’s Asia cup dream was smashed by Sri Lankans by chasing a 174 target. Mendis and Pathum put on a solid start and skipper Dasun and Bhanuka finished the game with one ball in hand. And Sri Lanka vs Pakistan is another Asia cup final just like in 2014. But this time in t-20 format. And the result was the same. Sri Lanka ended its 8-year major trophy drought by winning and 2022 Asia cup by beating Pakistan. Bhanuka Rajapakse the “big game player”, the man stepped up and delivered his most important knock for his country and his team. And also our spin wizard Wanindu Hasarnga helps Bhanuka to build that most important inning. Sri Lanka won the Asia cup for the 6th time with the contribution of every player. That was a great run, a great comeback tournament. They lost cheaply against Afghanistan and then won all the remaining games and won the title for the team. One of the best comebacks in cricket history.

A TEAM THAT WAS TROLLED BY A LOT OF THEIR HATERS SOMETIME BACK CONQUERED THE ASIA CUP.

THE BOYS WHO CAME FROM A SMALL ISLAND BECAME THE KINGS OF ASIA.

BECAUSE THEY DO NOT NEED WORLD-CLASS PLAYERS WHEN THEY HAVE 11 BROTHERS ON THE TEAM.

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