Published: Jun 17, 2013, 03:08 PM (IST)
Edited: Jun 17, 2013, 03:08 PM (IST)
Angelo Mathews feels Australia will come hard at them in the do-or-die ICC Champions Trophy 2013 clash © Getty Images
London: Jun 17, 2013
Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews has refused to take the out-of-sorts Australia lightly as the two teams meet in a Group A do-or-die clash in the ICC Champions Trophy 2013.
“Well, as I said before, it’s not about individuals, it’s about playing Australia, and I think whoever is not playing, it doesn’t really matter. We need to face Australia, and they are a very forceful unit when it comes to international cricket,” he said, as reported by www.icc-cricket.com
“They can demolish any team, so we need to stay focused. We can’t think about the last weeks because every single game is a semi-final from now on for us, so to be alive in this tournament we need to win each and every game,” he added.
Talking about the impact of rain in the ongoing tournament, Mathews said, ” I think the weather is something we can’t control, but yeah, obviously if it’s a shortened game we might have to think about our option strategies. But weather permitting; I think we should get a good game. But unfortunately we can’t control the weather. But we need to keep our options open. We need to have our strategies in mind, as well.”
Asked if it was a trend or practice to rest Lasith Malinga on the day before a match, Mathews said, ” Well, not only Malinga, there are few guys who have been rested — Rangana Herath, Nuwan Kulasekara — so whoever, has done enough work in the past, because ultimately it comes down to player management, as well, because we’ve got so many games ahead and we’ve got so many tours ahead, as well. So we can’t be over practicing, so we need to sort of manage those players for them to play as long as possible in the team.”
This tie will decide the second semi-finalist from Group A after England were through on Sunday night with a 10-run victory over New Zealand.
