'Goal is to...' Asalanka speaks on Sri Lanka's golden form in recent times

After securing three consecutive limited-overs series wins, Charith Asalanka-led Sri Lankan side is brewing up with a lot of confidence. The battle-hardened outfit has slowly become a force to reckon with in recent times. The skipper Asalanka now has some serious ambitions for his side and expects them to be as good as they were prior to 2014. 

The cricket-driven island nation was in the midst of its golden run between 2007-2014. During this period, Sri Lanka was often considered a tough opposition, especially in major ICC events where they managed to make no fewer than five World Cup final appearances (three T20Is and two ODIs) before going on to win their maiden T20 World Cup title in 2014. 

But the wheels had fallen off following the retirement of legends like Jayawardene and Sangakkara in 2014-15 and as a result, the team slipped into a hole and started witnessing a downward trajectory, especially in the white-ball format. However, with some sensational series wins against India, New Zealand, and West Indies, Asalanka hopes to revive the legacy of the vintage Lankan squad and replicate some of the old magic that the team possessed back in the day.

What does Asalanka aspire to do for Sri Lankan cricket?

As a first step, the Lankan skipper aims to propel his side up in the ICC Rankings and cement their place in the top three. In T20I cricket, his side is dismally ranked at number eight while in ODI, the Lankan side is up at the sixth position but still faces an inevitable exclusion from the upcoming Champions Trophy. Being the skipper of the Lankan side in the ODI and T20I formats, Sri Lanka have to compete fiercely on all fronts and continuously strive for positive progress. 

"Our goal is to climb to the top three in the rankings. If we've consistently been winning, when we go to the ICC tournaments, we won't get exposed. We'd have played good teams and won, like we used to do in 2014 and before, when we used to get to the semi-finals easily. We are hoping to come back to that level. It's important to play really well from tour to tour."

Their upcoming challenge against the Black Caps

It is worth mentioning that Sri Lanka's unprecedented resurgence in international cricket has largely been at home, most notably on turning wickets. This outfit is yet to be tested in alien conditions outside the Indian subcontinent. To build upon their dominating run, the Sri Lankan team will need to win matches consistently in away conditions.

But on the back of some emphatic series wins at home in recent times, one can safely conclude that the Asalanka-led Sri Lanka side have taken a step in the right direction.  They will now be up against the Black Caps for a five-match white-ball series who are coming off on the back of a historic 3-0 Test series sweep against India in their own backyard. 

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