It is a great feeling to beat India: SL's Bhanuka Rajapaksa

SHARJAH: Sri Lankan middle-order batsman Bhanuka Rajapaksa was very vocal about his team's performance at the press conference after his side's win over India on Tuesday. Speaking to the reporters, the southpaw termed his win over the Indian side extraordinary and that the team was feeling great after beating India.

The explosive left-handed batsman said, "Great feeling beating India, it's always special, lots of people didn't believe that we could win the game and compete in this series. As a team, we have come a long way looking back at the last couple of years, so very proud of the boys." Talking about the preparation before the game against India, he said, "We were underdogs from the time we came to UAE, we had less pressure, we wanted to prove a point to the world especially our country because of the crisis, this is the only thing we could do to bring some joy back home and just play together as a team and get these wins together."

He refuted claims that the batting in the second just got easier and said that the first wicket partnership was really good it was instrumental in helping us with the win. "I didn't bat in the powerplay but UAE has a record of teams winning who are batting second, 95 per cent of teams have won batting second. I don't think we should say it got easier but just that we got a great partnership at the beginning gave us the momentum and even though we were short of some wickets in the middle order, we kept up with the run rate and this is why it became a lot easier. But credit goes to the Indian bowlers, they bowled pretty well," said the middle-order batsman.

The Sri Lankan also mentioned the mindset of the team after being skittled out for 105 against Afghanistan. He said, "I think I spoke about this earlier as well that we were quite embarrassed and we wanted to prove that we are not a team that gets bowled out for 105. We wanted to prove a point and we have proved a point, made a statement to ourseleves and the whole world. This is a young team a couple of years back and playing along with the same teammates in the past 15 months has given us some momentum and the belief in the dressing room is much different than what was a couple of years back. So looking forward to the future to playing along with the same bunch."

Rajapaksa was confident of his team winning the title and reckoned it was what they came to UAE for. He also mentioned that the team is performing well because of contributions from each player. The star batsman said, "In whatever state we come to UAE the end goal is to win the title, we are pretty confident, everyone is clicking, there are a few guys that need to back themselves, we are backing them. Hopefully, when they come to good form, we have a great chance to win the tournament."

He also praised his Punjab Kings teammate Arshdeep Singh for bowling a fantastic final over and said he made it tough for his team to get over the line. Talking about the next match with Pakistan, he said, "It will be an important and exciting match as both the teams will have a 90 per cent chance to qualify for the final."

The southpaw was optimistic about the Sri Lankan side's chances of winning the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year and said that they have a good team that can clinch the World Cup. Sri Lanka sits at the top of the table with four points in the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup after defeating India in their last match.