Take Bangladesh seriously to remain on top - Moody
BY SA'ADI Thawfeeq
Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody was of the opinion that if his team was to
remain on top of their game they should treat the series against
Bangladesh seriously.
"We've got a lot of cricket in the next 6-12 months and we want to
maintain some positive momentum. This series is as important than any
other series we have got in the future," said Moody at a press
conference held in connection with the upcoming series at Hotel Taj
Samudra yesterday.
"It is important we play our best players and during the process
maybe blood some players as we go along."
"It is important we play our strongest side because we have a lot of
respect for Bangladesh. They are an emerging side and improving all the
time," said Moody.
Sri Lanka captain Marvan Atapattu also had words of praise for Test
cricket's minnows when he said: "Over the years they have shown
potential and what they have got. They have improved and it shows in
their recent performances too."
"As far as we are concerned we would like to think about ourselves
and play the way we normally perform here. We will try and concentrate
in our own game than think too much about the opposition," said Atapattu.
Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore said that Sri Lanka being ranked second
in the ICC one-day table was a reflection the way the team was playing.
"They have won a lot of games and fully deserve to be there. They are
a good side especially at home. We are not going to underestimate the
opposition. We go with both our eyes open against a very good side,"
said Whatmore.
Answering questions as to why all the matches on the Bangladesh tour
had been scheduled in Colombo, Sri Lanka Cricket interim committee
secretary Tryphon Mirando said that it was to reduce the effort of going
and playing out of Colombo since the series was only for two Tests and
three one-day internationals.
"We thought that instead of the team spending time travelling from
one place to another, they could spend their time practicing in Colombo
and decided to play all the matches there," said Mirando.
"Maybe the decision to play the matches in Colombo is not to
everybody's liking, but after talking to all the people concerned we
finally arrived at the decision," he said.
Questioned why the one-day matches were switched over to day games,
Mirando said: "For a day night game unless you have a full house it is
not going to be a source of encouragement. What we thought was it is
better to play a day game where you'll have more people coming in."
"The R. Premadasa Stadium can hold around 25,000 people and if you
don't have that kind of crowd, it is not going to be encouraging to
anybody.
After all the cricket we've had we felt that people have spent their
resources and may not be in a position to come and watch cricket again.
That is why we changed the three one-day internationals to day games,"
said Mirando.
The two series will be sponsored by Bank Alfallah for Rs. 12 million.
The bank's chief executive in charge in Karachi, Sirajudeen Aziz said
that the bank felt they ought to contribute towards the development of
society and that sports was a great medium to do that.
"If we can build that on the spirit of cooperation and competition
between people and get the best out of them, I think we have played the
role that is precisely what we intend to do here," said Aziz.
This will be the second tournament Bank Alfallah will be sponsoring.
Two years ago they sponsored a one-day triangular which involved host
Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Pakistan. |