‘It’s about doing it their way, and hitting their strong shots’ – Chris Silverwood on Sri Lanka’s middle order

Sri Lanka are getting back to making a striking mark in international cricket after a downfall in recent years, Sri Lanka’s Captain Dasun Shanaka has played a good role as a captain as he previously led the team towards the victory in Asia Cup 2022, and the qualifications for ODI World Cup 2023. However, his personal form is in question since he has scored low runs in recent times.  

Former English coach, Chris Silverwood recently analyzed Sri Lanka’s performance and opined that Dasun Shanaka and Dhananjaya de Silva should play a better role as a middle order batter and provide more power to the Sri Lanka batting lineup. He also praised Bangladesh bowlers for their stellar performances. 

Chris Silverwood wants Dasun Shanaka and de Silva to provide power to middle-order 

“Dasun is working very hard at the moment, as he always does. We’re working hard with him at the moment so he can get the runs that we know he can. We think at No. 7 he can make real strong contributions for us, and help build on the good starts that we’ve been getting. We’ve been getting into positions we could launch from, and it’d be great to see Dasun really hurt the opposition and get us over that 300 mark,” said Chris Silverwood. 

“With the two of them [Dhananjaya de Silva and Dasun Shanaka] sat at [Nos.] 6 and 7, we want them to provide firepower. It’s not just a case of going out there and slogging. It’s about doing it their way, and hitting their strong shots. And making sure that they have a clear plan of how they’re going to execute that. As we’ve seen in the past, Dhananjaya has been very good at getting us out of a hole, and getting us to a score that we can then defend”, he added. 

“I think Bangladesh have got a very strong bowling unit. From what I’ve seen so far, in this competition, I’ve been very impressed with them – particularly the pace bowlers. They’re big, they’re strong, they’re accurate, and they get movement. We have to make sure we prepare well and make sure that every batter on our side has a plan on how to cope with every bowler on their side,” Concluded Chris Silverwood.