6 October – Delhi – Sri Lanka Coach Chris Silverwood pre-match press conference. Chris-Silverwood

[Reporter:]

Are all 15 players available for selection?

[Chris Silverwood:]

No, at the moment, Theekshana is still recovering from a hamstring injury, so he won’t be available for this game. But we expect him to be available very soon. The rest of them are fine.

[Reporter:]

Chris, about the conditions here, what is the impression, how does the pitch look like and what would you expect from it?

[Chris Silverwood:]

I expect it to be a very good pitch. Speaking to Mahela who has got good knowledge of the wickets around here, and speaking to the curator last night and looking at the wicket, it looks a good wicket. History tells us it’s likely to be a high-scoring game. And you’re looking at the size of the boundaries, I would expect it to be a high-scoring game as well. So, for me, I expect it to be a belter.

[Reporter:]

This coming year after the debacle of the final in Asia Cup and the form of your captain has been quite poor and injury concerns. So how do you see this tournament panning out with the beginning from South Africa match?

[Chris Silverwood:]

Well, I mean, first and foremost, we’re prepared to the best of our abilities. We’ve been treated very well since we’ve been here at some great facilities from a team point of view, we know on our day we can go toe-to-toe with anybody.

So, we prepare in exactly the same way all the time and injuries may happen and we have to deal with them the same as any other team does but we know given the right conditions, given the right day we can go toe-to-toe with anybody.

So, we’ll be going out there looking to win as always but we expect a very tough game

We know there are some very tough games during this tournament and I think although everybody talks about the final in the Asia Cup, we played some very good cricket together and we got there despite people not thinking we could, so actually we know we can play some good cricket.

[Reporter:]

Nissanka hasn’t been giving big runs you know there were a couple of 40-odd scores here and there in the Asia Cup. So is there any message for him, is there any talk with him regarding form or batting or any special preparations?

[Chris Silverwood:]

Yeah, no, nothing to be honest. What we have had is some good starts. If we look back from the World Cup qualifiers to where we are now, we’ve had some solid starts from the top of the order. I think the one thing that we need to capitalise on is those solid starts and obviously go big towards the end. So that’s one area we have been working on and it’s certainly not a secret that that’s something we’ve been working on. But I think the top of the order, they’ve done a solid job for us so far and I expect them to carry on doing that.

[Reporter:]

Not a Sri Lankan, but what do you think it would mean to the people of that country who’ve had some tough times of late but have known cricket glory in the past? What do you think it would mean to Sri Lankans for the team to give a good account of themselves in this tournament?

[Chris Silverwood:]

I think for a country it would be huge. I certainly sat in the dressing room and all the players in there feel the pride that comes out the country, they feel the support that comes from the great people that sit there supporting us. And equally when we’re walking around in Colombo, everybody wants to talk cricket. So, there is so much love for the game. And I think it would be huge if we could put a good show on here for them. And bring a smile back into the country’s faces with what we’re trying to do.

[Reporter:]

Something on Pathirana, obviously there’s always a mood around the cricket world that people are opting for T20 leagues and when someone like MS Dhoni in public says that he shouldn’t even be considered for ODI cricket, how do you keep the team together and motivate these youngsters from Sri Lanka when the lure for money and IPL is so much bigger and someone like MS Dhoni suggests in public that he shouldn’t be playing ODI cricket. So how do you get the players in the mood for the ODI World Cup like that?

[Chris Silverwood:]

Well, I’ve not read that what MS has said and so to be honest it doesn’t bother me in the slightest, it’s got nothing to do with us. But what I will say is somebody like Pathirana is a very exciting young talent and he’s got a lot to showcase in 50-over cricket as well and I think it would be wrong to deprive him of that opportunity. And I think it would be wrong for us not to have him out there and not let Sri Lankan people see what their young talented cricketers can do out on the cricket field.

So, for me I get very excited about the young talent coming through, not just him, we have other youngsters as well. And I think it’s great that we can give them a stage to go show off on. So, for me, they go out there, they spread their wings and fly. And let’s see what they can achieve.

[Reporter:]

Sri Lanka is known for their unorthodox bowlers and all. So how is it being the coach for them, how do you handle them? Do you want them to be traditional or bowl like they are doing since their childhood? Is there any type of strategy you keep on suggesting to them or you want them to play freely?

[Chris Silverwood:]

From them being unorthodox, I think from my point of view, it’s a great learning curve for me as well. To get away from the orthodox bowling action, to see someone like Pathirana, for me it was, okay, how do I work with this guy? What does he want from me? And it’s been a great journey so far. And I find myself listening to him a lot because I’m not going to tinker with his action It’s his own, it’s his, and it works for him. For me, it’s about teaching him how to bowl now in ODI cricket and look at angles and things like that but no way am I going to try and change his action because the last thing I want to do is take the X factor away from him and that’s what he’s got, he’s got X factor.

[Reporter:]

How crucial will Dunith Wellalage be in absence of Wanindu Hasaranga? As an all-rounder, how much has his role has changed or has it become any larger due to the absence of Hasaranga?

[Chris Silverwood:]

Well, to be honest, I mean, Dunith has shown us what a good young cricketer is and he’s got an old head on young shoulders and I think he’s played his cricket with maturity so far and I think he’s shown his worth with bat and ball and he’s a good young fielder as well. We’re not going to put any more pressure on him than that, so for me he goes out and he plays his way. He knows his role in the team and he’s very happy with that. So, for me it’s about not putting pressure on these guys, it’s about taking pressure off them and I want him to go out and enjoy himself and show the rest of the world how good he is and if we can do that and give him that freedom, I think we’ll see the best of him.

[Reporter:]

Chris, the opening combination, what’s your plan going forward and also you tried Dimuth in the middle order as well during the warm-up game. Any thought of playing him there?

[Chris Silverwood:]

I won’t be telling you our combinations. Nice try though.

[Reporter:]

This isn’t the strongest Sri Lankan group when you compare it with the past Sri Lankan teams, but somehow you managed to win the T20 Asia Cup last year and you managed to make it to the final this year.

So, what would you say is the success mantra on the ground with such a young team?

[Chris Silverwood:]

I think first and foremost it’s creating an environment within the dressing room that these guys can talk, speak with freedom, and go out and play with freedom as well. One thing I always try and encourage them to do is to find solutions to problems. Every day when you go into a cricket field there are challenges and problems put in front of you. I want them to become self-thinking, self-sufficient cricketers who can figure things out on the field for themselves and I think one thing that they have done is embrace that and they’ve showed that every time they get a challenge put in front of them, they try their very best to find a way around it and they’ve done it more often than not. You’re not going to do it all the time as we’ve seen but I think the consistency will come in our team once we start learning to do that more and more and more.

[Reporter:]

Coach, what’s the update on Kusal Perera? He had a niggle and then the captain also had a small niggle. Are they fully fit and then what’s your concern on batting collapses? We had quite a few even in the warm-up game after Kusal retired.

[Chris Silverwood:]

Yeah, I mean as I said previously the two of them are ready to go. And we can’t hide behind the fact that actually we haven’t kicked on from solid starts and again we missed an opportunity in the warm-up game to do that. As I said, there’s no point hiding behind it. It’s a ‘work-on’ for us and it’s an area that we’re trying to improve constantly. So again, it’s just trying to give them confidence, especially now we’re in competition. I mean, we’re heading into our first game. We’ve got to try and give them as much confidence as possible and as much guidance and a plan for doing that – a framework that they can work with. So as coaches, we’ve been working very hard with the batsmen to do that. And we’ve just got to go out there and do it now.

[Reporter:]

So, do you think that this World Cup can save the ODI cricket because people’s interest is shifting towards T20s and Test and yesterday it wasn’t a house full for the opener?

[Chris Silverwood:]

Yeah, I mean listen T20 is here to stay and It’s a beast of its own now and I don’t think you can do anything about that. It’s attractive, it’s got all the razzmatazz, especially when you look at the IPL and the glamour that goes around that and equally the money that’s available for the players to play in that. And you’re playing against the best people in the world all the time. So, for me I think that’s a great thing. I think if we can put a good show on, I mean not just Sri Lanka but all the teams here can put a good show on and actually show that this format of a game is great as well, I think it will go a long way to obviously promoting the game.