IPL experience will create good energy for SL: Bhanuka Rajapaksa

ASIA CUP 2022

The swashbuckling, thrill-a-minute batter – who turned heads in the early phase of IPL 2022 with his cameos – is hoping to carry the ‘positive vibes’ of IPL to the Sri Lankan side at the Asia Cup. Sri Lanka have the second-best tally of Asia Cup wins (5 to India’s 7) but their last victory came back in 2014.

“For me, the experience I bring after playing in the IPL will create good energy for the side,” Rajapaksa said. “One of the best chats I had with Liam Livingstone was when he said, ‘If it’s in the V, make sure the ball is in the trees”. He’d just be that aggressive. Proper slam-bang player.

“Coming back to the Sri Lankan side, I have brought in a lot of positivity after speaking to a lot of the IPL players, like Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal and Kagiso Rabada. I don’t think I have the time to explain in detail the talks we had, but there were a lot of positive vibes. I’m hoping we can take that same brand of cricket to the world.”

They can put this ‘brand’ to test on the opening night (August 27) of the multi-team tournament, when they take on Afghanistan in Dubai.

Hong Kong qualify

Like in 2018, Hong Kong have made it to Asia Cup again. They’re in the same group as India and Pakistan – like 2018 again. They face Rohit Sharma’s side on August 31 and Pakistan on September 2 – in Dubai and Sharjah respectively.

Asia Cup 2022 Squads

India: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Virat Kohli, Deepak Hooda, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan

Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohamad Wasim Jr., Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Usman Qadir, Shahnawaz Dahani, Mohammad Hasnain

Sri Lanka: Dasun Shanaka (c), Pathum Nissanka, Nuwanidu Fernando, Danushka Gunathilaka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Kusal Mendis, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dinesh Chandimal, Ashen Bandara, Maheesh Theekshana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Praveen Jayawickrama, Chamika Karunaratne, Dilshan Madhushanka, Matheesha Pathirana, Asitha Fernando, Pramod Madushan, Nuwan Thushara

Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (c), Sabbir Rahman, Mohammad Naim, Afif Hossein, Mosaddek Hossain, Mahmudullah, Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mehidy Hasan, Anamul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Parvez Hossain Emon, Mustafizur Rahman, Nasum Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Taskin Ahmed

Afghanistan: Mohammad Nabi (c), Najibullah Zadran, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran, Usman Ghani, Samiullah Shinwari, Afsar Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Azmatullah Omarzai, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Karim Janat, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Noor Ahmad, Fareed Ahmed Malik, Rashid Khan

(Cricbuzz)