Sri Lanka has defeated Bangladesh in the crucial Do or Die battle and marched into the Super 4 of the Asia Cup 2022. Sri Lanka coach Chris Silverwood opened up by displaying coded signals for captain Dasun Shanaka during the first innings of the Asia Cup 2022 match against Bangladesh.
It was a great finish to the virtual knock-out game between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh on Thursday night, with the hosts clinching a 2-wicket victory to book a berth in the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup 2022.
Chasing 184 runs to win, Sri Lanka faced a middle-order collapse but Kusal Mendis (60 off 37 deliveries) and captain Dasun Shanaka (45 off 33 deliveries) held the fort for the side, with Chamika Karunaratne (16 off 10 balls) and Asitha Fernando (10* off 3 balls) providing the late bloom to take the Sri Lankans to victory.
The match was preceded by terrific tensions between both teams with Dasun Shanaka terming Bangladesh an “easier opponent” in comparison to Afghanistan, while Khaled Mahmud, Bangladesh’s team director, claimed that Sri Lankans have ‘no world-class bowlers’ in retort.
On Thursday, former Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene had also urged the bowlers to “show their class”, as he quote-tweeted Mahmud’s response. There was tremendous tension On and Off the field.
A Coded Signal Increased Tension Among The Opponents And The Fans
Adding fuel to the fire, however, was Sri Lanka coach Chris Silverwood’s tactics during the first innings of the match in Sharjah. Continuing the practice that earned varied opinions from his stint in England, Silverwood displayed coded signals for Sri Lanka skipper Shanaka – something that didn’t go down quite well with many Bangladesh supporters.
“There’s no rocket science”: Silverwood
Sri Lankan Coach Silverwood, later on, gave clarification about the signal and cleared the confusion. He said, “There’s no rocket science. They are just suggestions for the captain at what would be a good match at a particular point for a batsman when he is on strike. There are a lot of teams doing it now, it’s just as simple as it is, really. It’s just giving suggestions that the captain can use, it’s not telling him how to captain. It’s just the suggestion from the side,”.
Silverwood often used such coded signals during his coaching stint with England, and then-English captain Eoin Morgan defended the tactic on a number of occasions.
The Lankan Lions join India and Afghanistan as the third team in the Super Four stage, with one of Pakistan and Hong Kong set to complete the set later tonight. The second round of Asia Cup 2022 (tournament proper) begins on Sunday (September 4).