ICC T20 WORLD CUP 2021

October 27, 2021

Mickey Arthur

Charith Asalanka

Sharjah Stadium

Sri Lanka

Pre Match Media Conference

Q. Mickey, this is regarding Maheesh Theekshana, will he be playing tomorrow?

MICKEY ARTHUR: Yeah, Maheesh will be playing tomorrow, if everything goes well. We've rested him from training yesterday. He's improved tremendously. So we'll warm him up tomorrow; and if everything goes well, he'll be playing.

Q. Eight matches since coming into the Middle East, warm-up matches, everything we've won. How much expectations are you having in beating Australia, which is a very quality side, probably the toughest challenge for Sri Lanka so far?

MICKEY ARTHUR: For us, it's just about us improving all the time. And every time we go out and play, I've applauded the players in terms of intensity, in terms of skill, in terms of execution.

And the players have been outstanding. And we just are improving. For us, it's about our journey at the moment. It's not a sprint. Our players are getting better and better. We've got one sitting next to me here, that they get better with every outing that they play.

So I'm really, really happy. The qualifiers were tough. There was a lot of pressure on us there. Now the pressure is reversed because we come into this space with not much to lose.

We're playing good cricket. We're very dangerous. The players are very clear on what the their roles are, and we're confident we can beat anybody on our day.

Q. You've spoken a lot on young players taking up responsibility and showing character and stuff like that. On the way Charith batted against Bangladesh, especially given the circumstances that both Kusole and Avishka, both your premier players (indiscernible)?

MICKEY ARTHUR: And first of all, the thing that really impressed me was that it was our bowlers that had won us the games because I think we've got an incredibly good and balanced attack. It was our bowlers that had won us the games previously. It was our batsmen, very well led by Charith, that actually won the game for us against Bangladesh.

And that for me was fantastic. But to see Charith's development has been incredible. I remember Charith arriving in our bubble just before we went to England, and then we had the England trip. And to see Charith's journey from England to where he is now is a credit to himself, the way he's gone about his work, the professionalism he's shown. His preparation in every game has been fantastic.

And to see a young player like Charith get better and better has been very, very rewarding for us.

Q. (Indiscernible) fairly big scorer. How much confidence did that give you chasing down that huge total?

MICKEY ARTHUR: That gives you a lot of confidence. I'll take you back to Columbo a couple of months ago. After we were badly beaten by South Africa, we went into the bubble and we had camps and we set up scores to chase.

We sort of started at 145, and next game we got it to 160. And then the last game we actually chased 178, I think it was.

And that was about getting our guys used to understanding what's required to chase those targets.

So the evolution of our batting has been really good to see. And particularly led by a young batsman. To say the other day, you're right, our two premier experienced batsmen in KJP and Avishka missed out, but it was Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa that won us the game. For those two guys to win us the game cricket chasing 172 was very, very rewarding for all of us.

Q. You just spoke about Pathum Nissanka. Although Charith and Rajapaksa finished the game for you, but how impressed are you with the talent and the kind of form that he's bringing into the game, into the tournament?

MICKEY ARTHUR: Look, I've always said from the first time I saw Pathum, I think I've been quoted as saying I think he's a wonderful talent. I think he's got his balance, his feet movement, when he attacks, when he defends. He's got it all. He's a really good player. We saw that on test day. He's played every form now over the last sort of nine months for us.

And he's going to play every form because I really think him and Charith are generation-next for Sri Lanka in terms of batting.

I haven't seen better talent. And I've watched every cricket now in Sri Lanka, including some of the under-19 bowlers, which are quite exciting to see some of them coming through. But I don't see batting talent like Pathum Nissanka and Charith Asalanka. So we've got to, for us as a coaching staff, for us as the selection panel, we've got to keep giving opportunities to these two young players, because in the next couple of years they're going to be the leaders in the batting department for Sri Lanka.

Q. We have seen a number of games that have been played so far in the tournament are low-scoring games. Do you think that trend will continue as the tournament progresses?

MICKEY ARTHUR: It will be interesting to see. I think that the wickets are going to be there. I mean, I spent three years here with Pakistan on these wickets. And very rarely did you get a game like we had in Sharjah the other night where it was 172.

You might get the odd outlier game. But I think as the games get more and more tight, as the games get more and more contested and there's more and more on every game, I think your 155 is going to be very defendable.

Q. You said about defending scores and low scores. How much of a part do you play, especially in Dubai, considering it's a night game?

MICKEY ARTHUR: It's going to be interesting to see. Just speaking to the Pakistan boys that are in the hotel with us, they felt the ball skidded on a little bit batting second. They did feel that there was a little bit -- not an over amount of dew, but they felt that once it settled and cooled the wicket down, the ball did skid on a little bit.

And I think that's probably going to be the training game for us. So I've been very happy to see us chasing and chasing well because I think that might become the trend later in the competition.

Q. The players that you have picked have started with Pathum Nissanka, Praveen Jayawickrama and now Charith. What is it, the experience or instinct?

MICKEY ARTHUR: Look, I'm not sure. I do like seeing young players come through. I do think I have a bit of an eye on young players and can -- you get some good young players, but there's some players, when you watch them, you think these guys could be very, very good.

Pathum, Charith, Praveen, these are going to be guys that are going to be very good for Sri Lanka going forward.

Yeah, it's a little bit of eye for talent. And we have a very good coaching staff that guide these young boys and have guided them very well so far. Long may that continue.

Q. Kusal Perera has not fired so far, what's wrong? Is it anything to do with injury?

MICKEY ARTHUR: No, look, Kusal hasn't played a huge amount of cricket before this World Cup because he was looking after that injury. And we were looking after that injury as well.

And I'd be wrong to say that he's playing at 100 percent every time, because he is restricted in a little way. But Kusal Janith restricted for me is still a matchman for us.

So I'll back him 100 percent. I know there's a match winning innings from Kusal Janith just around the corner. And he's got total backing from myself and the team, because we know what he brings, and we know when he fires he wins us games of cricket.

Q. On a personal note, as a coach you've won 15 consecutive T20 internationals in the UAE. I'm wondering how much has your experience with Pakistan helped you in planning and preparing for this tournament? And how much do you think Sri Lanka have benefited as a side because they've been regular opponents against Pakistan over last 10 years and therefore they've played a significant proportion of their games in the UAE compared to other sides?

MICKEY ARTHUR: Look, it's certainly helped. As I said, I spent three years playing with Pakistan. So we do know the wickets. And with Pakistan we also had a set format that we played to, sort of set brand.

And we've sort of tried to replicate that just a little bit with the Sri Lankan boys. So that's certainly helped.

Conditions aren't overly different to what we experience in Sri Lanka. So that's helped our guys as well. And let's just hope that 15 becomes 16 tomorrow.

Q. Your overall take on this aspect of taking the knee. Recently there has been a controversy over Quinton de Kock, he refused to take the knee and (indiscernible) yesterday's match. So what's your overall views on this matter?

MICKEY ARTHUR: Look, I don't know the actual implications around Quinton de Kock's decision. Decisions are personal, I would have thought, or directed by your board.

One thing that we're very clear on is that there's no room for any form of racism, discrimination or anything within cricket, within sport, within the world.

So we are pretty united on that cause. But in terms of Quinton de Kock, I'm not sure. I can't comment on that because I don't know.

Q. Just one on Maheesh Theekshana, and just what impact he can have tomorrow, especially against a side like Australia who have had their troubles against spinners on wickets in the UAE. Do you see him more dangerous tomorrow than what we've seen previously or against other sides?

MICKEY ARTHUR: Look, he's a quality bowler. I think we've also got to -- he's a mystery bowler. He's still young, though. He's still making his way in the game. But obviously it is -- tactically we do study our opposition. We obviously have studied Australia. We had a series not so long ago when I was with Pakistan here against him where we did use spin quite successfully. So hopefully that works. If you haven't seen Maheesh, he certainly poses some questions.

He has a couple of different balls that do make you quite hesitant if you can't pick them. So, look, it will be an interesting contest tomorrow.

Q. I know regarding the Quinton de Kock question, I know you don't want to go into Quinton's situation. But do you have a thought on cricket South Africa I guess telling the players or telling the team, giving an order to the team where they should take the knee?

MICKEY ARTHUR: Look, I'm not going to get embroiled in anything like that, because I know exactly what will happen: It will be tomorrow's headlines. So I'm going to refrain from commenting.