Charith Asalanka’s bold claim ahead of Bangladesh clash, says Sri Lanka are T20 Asia Cup defending champions.
Charith Asalanka: We are T20 Asia Cup defending champions.
Regarding Sri Lanka, they are the reigning champions at the Asia Cup this year. They contend that the Asia Cup’s ODI format, which India last won in 2023, is a completely different competition.
The competition switches between the two white-ball versions according to whatever World Cup is coming up. It was the 50-over World Cup in 2023. It is the T20 World Cup in 2025. Additionally, Sri Lanka is the most recent winner of the Asia Cup’s T20I format, having won the championship in 2022.
Asalanka doubles down
“Mentally, the fact that we are defending champions is a really good thing,” Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka said ahead of his team’s first Asia Cup game, against Bangladesh on Saturday. “It was a lot of these players that played in that last tournament here [in UAE] as well. We know that because we are champions we can go far. The players are using that as motivation.”
Both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka often play on slower, less batting-friendly grounds at home. Asalanka, however, anticipated a different Abu Dhabi surface.
“When you’re rating these conditions with other venues in the UAE, I think Abu Dhabi is the best pitch for batters. Once the ball gets softer it’s much easier to bat here, and the outfield is very nice. Every batsman wants to play in Abu Dhabi.”
Since the beginning of the year, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have played three Twenty20 Internationals, three One-Day Internationals, and two Test matches. Bangladesh won the T20I series, but Sri Lanka won the ODI and Test series.