Sri Lanka Women’s cricket skipper Chamari Athapaththu said her hero is Master Blaster Sanath Jayasuriya.
“You are my super hero and inspired me to emulate you said dashing left-hander Athapaththu who has already played 101 ODIs.
“I want to see my team in the semi-finals of the World Cup, I’ve worked so hard in the last 15 years and I’ve achieved a few things as a player but as a captain, I want to do more. That’s my wish and this South Africa series performances gave big boost to us .
“I know it is a very big task for us,” she said. “Every team is really good and every game is important for us. We will focus on one game at a time.”
Chamari further said”My retirement is very soon,”I can’t mention dates, but very soon. We can talk about these things later. For now, I’m always looking after the young girls. I’ve built a young team. I want to see these young girls in the World Cup one day.
As a captain, I am really proud of my young girls and they are playing really good cricket. I sacrificed a lot of things for Sri Lankan cricket in the last 15 years. I am happy to lead this team. I am a proud captain. I hope my girls play really good cricket in future as well. I hope my team can play their best cricket at the T20 World Cup.”
Chamari basked in the success of her innings in Potchefstroom and accepted congratulations from the greats of Sri Lankan cricket including Mahela Jayawardene, Lasith Malinga and her “super hero” Sanath Jayasuriya. “I want to see another player in Sri Lanka pass my score very soon,” she said.
She referred to her previous best 178 not out against Australia at the 2017 ODI World Cup – as her top knock because it opened doors for her international cricket career.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka women’s team reached Dubai from South Africa yesterday to take part at the ICC -20 qualifying tournament which will commence on April 25.
Dhammika Ratnaweera