(PTI Photo)
Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu views her stint with the Barbados Royals in the 2024 Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) as an excellent opportunity to gear up for the Women’s T20 World Cup, which begins on October 3 in the UAE.
“As a team and players, our preparation is really good. We played a few bilateral series and Women’s Asia Cup as well before I came here. So these opportunities are really good to showcase our talent and how we can manage ourselves, as well as adjust to the different conditions and how to manage pressure in the middle in T20 format.
“These are the positive things I have learnt from CPL. This is really good opportunity for me because before Women’s T20 World Cup comes next month. I hope I can do my best for Barbados Royals and continue this performance in T20 World Cup as well,” said Chamari.
Since mid-April 2023, Sri Lanka has been in impressive form, securing bilateral series wins in both white-ball formats against Bangladesh, T20I victories over England and South Africa, and ODI series triumphs against New Zealand and the West Indies. Their recent success culminated in a win over India in the Women’s Asia Cup final at Dambulla.
“In last 12 months, we played really good cricket around the world by beating top teams, so we are in good confidence and form. We continued with out best performance and confidence in Asia Cup, and finally, lifted the trophy for the very first time. We beat the world’s best team – India has a lot of good players, experience, and play a lot of franchise leagues.
“As a team, we are playing really good cricket. As a captain, I’m really proud of my girls. Unfortunately, we lost the ODI series against Ireland in different conditions and my girls struggled a lot with the weather. But as a team, we’re in good form, because we always talk about positive things in our dressing room; we never talk about negatives. Credit especially goes to our head coach (Rumesh Ratnayake), he is the key man behind these scenes,” added Chamari.
Chamari Athapaththu, the left-handed batter and off-spin bowler, acknowledges the tough competition Sri Lanka will face in Group A of the T20 World Cup, which includes defending champions Australia, New Zealand, India, and Pakistan. Despite the challenges, she remains optimistic about Sri Lanka’s prospects in the ten-team tournament.
“The last T20 World Cup semi-finalists (India) and the final champion (Australia) are in our group, so it will not be easy. But at the end of the day, T20 cricket is about anything can happen in any time, because one or two players can change this game. So I trust my girls and I hope we can now play best cricket in T20 World Cup,’ she said.
When not representing Sri Lanka, Chamari Athapaththu travels the globe as a T20 player, participating in various leagues including the Women’s Premier League, WBBL, Super Smash, and The Hundred. She has also competed in the Kia Super League and the Women’s T20 Challenge.
This marks her second stint in the WCPL, following her previous involvement with the Guyana Amazon Warriors in 2022. Chamari appreciates the unique energy that Caribbean T20 cricket brings to the game.
“When we’re playing cricket here with Barbados Royals girls, no pressure is there as its calm and so much fun. The Caribbean conditions and people are different compared to other franchise leagues, so enjoying it. The atmosphere and vibe of being here is to enjoy in the middle.
“Like how they celebrate when they get wicket or go to 150, it is very different as compared to other countries. Even West Indies players play in other leagues, and we enjoy a lot with how they introduce themselves, as they have different vibe when they’re playing, and even when they’re in resting rooms.”
She attributes her chance to play for the Royals in the WCPL to Kumar Sangakkara, the former Sri Lanka men’s captain and current director of cricket for the franchise.“I love him as he’s one of the greatest ever players produced by Sri Lanka. So I got this really good opportunity to come here and play for Barbados Royals because of him.”
Harshitha Samawickrama, Chamari’s opening partner for Sri Lanka, is also competing in the WCPL. She joined the Trinbago Knight Riders after Meg Lanning’s withdrawal. The left-handed batter scored a vital 61 in the Asia Cup final against India and recently made 105 in the second ODI against Ireland.
“As a player and Sri Lankan captain, I’m really proud of her because she got this good opportunity to show what she can do. She is the second or third player playing franchise league after Udeshika (Prabodhani) and Shashikala (Siriwardene) played in Fairbreak and Women’s T20 Challenge, respectively. I hope she will play her best cricket and continues with her best performance in the WCPL,” Chamari signed off.
