Sri Lanka’s white ball sequence towards Zimbabwe beginning on the weekend is an opportunity for the staff to indicate enchancment after final yr’s dismal World Cup marketing campaign, skipper Kusal Mendis stated on Friday.
Mendis led the staff to a second-from-bottom inserting on the World Cup, after captain Dasun Shanaka withdrew injured, ending forward solely of the Netherlands.
Appointed one-day captain this week, Mendis stated the staff had educated intensely to bolster their fielding, after 16 catches have been dropped in India.
“Fielding is one space that we’ve labored actually laborious over the last two weeks. It was a giant letdown for us in the course of the World Cup,” he stated.
“It was bitterly disappointing. We may have fared higher within the World Cup had we been extra disciplined on the sphere,” he added.
“I can promise you that there’s been plenty of laborious work and you may see the outcomes on this upcoming sequence.”
Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe will play three ODIs beginning Saturday adopted by three T20 fixtures, all in Colombo.
The one-day matches type a part of the Tremendous League that can decide qualification for the subsequent ODI World Cup, in southern Africa in 2027.
The previous two World Cups have been restricted to 10 groups, which means two-time champions West Indies missed out on the India showpiece.
Eleventh-ranked Zimbabwe additionally missed the final two tournaments, after attending each World Cup from 1983 to 2015, and captain Craig Ervine welcomed plans to accommodate extra groups within the subsequent version.
“It’s vastly necessary that extra groups compete in international occasions corresponding to World Cups. It’s higher for cricket,” he stated.
“Groups like us don’t get to play prime groups like India, Australia and England typically and occasions just like the World Cup are the one event we get to compete towards the very best.”