Sri Lanka assistant coach Naveed Nawaz previews their game with Afghanistan at the ICC Cricket World Cup
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00:00 If I can see your hands, we'll select some questions for Navid Nawaz.
00:10 Navid, there's a rumor going around that Dushmanta Chameera is joining the team. Can you explain that?
00:32 Yes, Lahiru Kumar is training to bowl his quadriceps muscles. There's a restriction on his bowling.
00:42 He's been in the team for 3 years and he's been able to play well. We've replaced him because he can't bowl in the tournament.
01:07 So Dushmanta is the one who's been training.
01:12 So is Chameera playing?
01:14 Yes, there's a good chance he'll play. But we've only brought 3 players.
01:22 What do you think about the future of the team?
01:33 It's a good tournament. We played a T20 tournament in India in January.
01:42 It's a good tournament. We've played 5 one-day matches in the past.
01:50 We've played some high-scoring games in those matches. We think the team will do well. The players have a lot to learn.
02:03 Sri Lanka and Afghanistan have played quite often in the last one year or so.
02:28 Is there anything that Sri Lanka can produce out of the box to beat them?
02:35 Because both teams know each other's weaknesses and strengths.
02:39 We've played in Afghanistan quite a bit and during the Asia Cup recently as well.
02:45 We've won and lost as well.
02:50 I would say it depends on how you go about on the day.
02:58 On a wicket like this, I think there will be runs on the ground.
03:07 It all depends on how you go about on the day. Less mistakes.
03:12 That's what we've been focusing on the last couple of weeks.
03:17 We'll try and bring our best game in all three departments.
03:21 Batting, bowling and fielding as well.
03:24 If things go to plan and we play a tidy game, I think chances are going to be good for us.
03:34 You spoke about Tamira playing tomorrow.
03:37 Other than that, is there any possibility of any changes in the opening birth?
03:42 We have discussed and have not finalised yet.
03:48 I think we'll have a final look at the wicket tomorrow morning and make a call on that.
03:56 Kusal Janith has played seven games in a row and has been unsuccessful in four of them.
04:03 How do you see this failure and is there a chance for Dhimuth to come back?
04:10 Are there any contention for the selections?
04:14 There is definitely contention for the selections.
04:18 Dhimuth is a world cup qualifier, and he's been a starting pitcher for us for the past two games.
04:32 Kusal Janith had a job to do before he came to play cricket.
04:37 He came to play cricket after he was a teenager.
04:40 He had a shoulder injury, and he wasn't happy about being a world cup qualifier.
04:46 We didn't get the results we hoped for from Kusal.
04:52 But he had given us clear instructions.
04:56 We knew what kind of a player Kusal was.
04:59 He had the freedom to play as he wanted to.
05:04 But he got a 5-0 win in the Australian game.
05:09 We didn't get anything we hoped for from him.
05:16 We will definitely get the selectors we want from Dhimuth.
05:23 You're coming here after a good win against England.
05:29 You're facing Afghanistan now.
05:31 How would you find them a more trickier opponent, if not tougher than England?
05:38 Because the way Afghanistan is playing, how would you rate them?
05:45 I think Afghanistan is a really good team.
05:48 Like I said before, every game is a tough game for us.
05:53 From the position we are in, we are compelled to win a lot of matches from now on.
06:01 We don't take any team lightly.
06:05 We think we should be more focused on what we can do, rather than thinking about the opposition.
06:11 Like I've said many times before.
06:14 We plan to go out there and try and play a tidy game with less mistakes in the middle.
06:21 I think that's the way to go forward and that's going to be favourable for us as well.
06:26 Anything on Lahiro's injury, how much is it going to hurt Sri Lanka's chances of going ahead in the tournament?
06:34 He was the man of the match in the last game.
06:37 Obviously, he bowled really well.
06:40 It's going to hurt us a little bit.
06:43 But on the other hand, we are getting Dushmanta Chameera to come in.
06:49 He's an experienced bowler as well.
06:52 So if he speaks to play tomorrow, I think it's going to come good for us.
06:58 We've seen a lot of interest from Sri Lanka in recent times.
07:03 What do you see? What's the reason for your position?
07:09 I think the reason is that Amaru has had a lot of injuries, especially in fastball.
07:17 In the last few games, we've seen him get injured in a practice match.
07:28 He dived into the ball and injured his shoulder.
07:31 That's when his shoulder injury was triggered.
07:35 We've also seen him dive into the ball and injure his shoulder in a final against Dilshan Madhushankar.
07:49 I think that for fastballers, especially those who bowl 545km/h, there's a high chance of getting injured.
08:07 We've seen that Dushmanta Chameera had a shoulder injury in Sri Lanka-Afghanistan in the last 5 months.
08:21 I think we need to focus on the rehabilitation process of the players who have been injured.
08:34 We need to focus on how to get them back into the game.
08:44 It's hard to expect them to recover from the injury.
08:49 But the rehabilitation process and the return to cricket is what will help us get them back into the game.
09:01 Navid, Tikshana did an excellent job against England in Bangalore.
09:09 But wickets-wise, he has had a relatively quiet World Cup so far.
09:13 What do you think is the reason for that?
09:15 And now going up against Afghanistan, who trained against Rashid Mujib, etc.
09:22 What do you think will be the challenge for Tikshana?
09:25 His role in the team, even before this World Cup, when he played with Vanindu, he used to tie and end up.
09:37 He's a very economical bowler and he used to close and end up for us.
09:43 His 10 overs would go for very little runs.
09:46 On the other hand, when Vanindu was playing, he had the knack of picking up wickets.
09:50 So when Tikshana does the economical job, Vanindu used to come and pick up wickets.
09:57 This is one of the major tournaments that he's playing for the first time without Vanindu as a bowling partner.
10:05 Initially, there was a bit of a slight misunderstanding in the job role where he was going all out to take wickets.
10:14 Which is going out of his main role and going out of his zone as well.
10:20 In the last match, we saw when Tikshana got the ball from Vanindu, we had the fast bowlers bowling really well on the other end.
10:30 So it was very clear that his job is to close and end up so that the other bowlers would come in to play, to attack, to take wickets.
10:39 Because runs are close from Vanindu.
10:41 So that's what we need him to do. We need him to be economical, close and end up so that the other bowlers from the other end can put pressure on the batters to take wickets.
10:51 So I believe that's the best role that he can play in our team.
10:55 So the team had a practice session yesterday and today also there's a practice session.
11:00 How's the playing condition according to you?
11:04 It's like a must-win match tomorrow for both the teams. What's your comment about that?
11:10 Well, moving forward, all the games are must-win games for us.
11:17 And it's a really good, beautiful ground and a really nice pitch.
11:22 So I believe it's fair for both teams and whoever plays the best cricket tomorrow is going to have a chance.
11:33 Navid, Sri Lanka has won 10 titles in a single match in 6 years.
11:40 How do you see their progress?
11:43 They've won 54 titles in a single match. How do you see the progress of the players in a single match?
11:54 I think they've made a lot of progress in the last few years.
12:02 They've scored a lot of goals in the last 5 months.
12:08 I think it's because of their age maturity and game experience that they've been able to score goals.
12:20 We've seen them go into the game with a lot of confidence.
12:28 We hope to see them convert their mistakes into success.
12:35 But sometimes, things take a bit of time.
12:39 We all know how much hope they have in their players.
12:46 I'm happy with their form.
12:50 We're really happy that they're playing in a specially open basement.
12:57 Thank you.
13:00 [Thank you for watching!]