Sri Lanka have risen from ninth to fourth in the ICC men’s one-day rankings in under a year, a climb coach Sanath Jayasuriya views as tangible proof of progress. He credits captain Charith Asalanka for much of that upturn.
“Charith Asalanka has played a key role alongside me,” Jayasuriya said before the second ODI against Bangladesh, which follows a 77-run Sri Lankan victory in the opener. “What we have done is to give players confidence and get the best out of them. Players worked very hard and that hard work that we put in has enabled us to move forward. There were mistakes that they fixed.”
Asalanka’s own numbers back up the coach’s praise: an average of 46.83 and a strike-rate just under a run a ball since taking over, highlighted by Wednesday’s match-winning 106. Such returns contrast sharply with the recent past. Sri Lanka ended the 2023 World Cup in ninth place and, for the first time, missed qualification for this year’s Champions Trophy.
Form since last August, however, reads ten wins from 14 completed ODIs, including home series successes against India, West Indies, New Zealand and Australia. Jayasuriya accepts the job is not finished.
“It was a big challenge from where we were to come up to No. 4,” he said. “It was a big process. We were a team that had missed out on Champions Trophy. Every opportunity we got, we planned and tried to revive the ODI team.”
The coach added a note of caution: “If we want to move further up, we need to work on other areas like fielding and batting, and build consistency.”
Whether Sri Lanka can sustain this rise away from home remains the next, more demanding test.
