Sri Lankan Upul Tharanga said on Wednesday that at present Bangladesh is ahead of his country due to the transitional period they are going through with the absence of some senior cricketers. Tharanga, who is representing Mohammedan Sporting Club in the Dhaka Premier League, came up with the candid admission after completing his session at the academy premises in Mirpur.
Sri Lanka is regarded as the dominant force of Asian cricket while Bangladesh is gradually developing into a force to reckon with through their performance in last two years.
According to the left-hander if present form is taken into consideration certainly Tigers leapfrogged the Islanders.
‘I think performance-wise Bangladesh is bit ahead than us,’ Tharanga told reporters at Mirpur.
‘Last one year Bangladesh have done better than Sri Lanka because we lost Sanga [Kumar Sangakkara] and Mahela [Jayawardene] and there are lot of new players,’ he said.
‘I think they have developed a lot and since I started playing cricket in 2005 and now Bangladesh have gone a long way,’ he said.
Tharanga, who has played 21 Test matches and 180 one-day internationals in his career so far, credited the Bangladesh Cricket Board for providing the players with required facilities to raise their standard of cricket.
‘From having talented players they are also different in many ways like facilities and trainings centers and gym,’ said Tharanga.
Tharanga also attributed the success of the Tigers for their loyal fan base that he believes helps the players to remain motivated where as they are finding hard to find spectators in their domestic cricket back in Sri Lanka.
‘There is more spectator in your domestic cricket than what we have in Sri Lanka,’ said Tharanga.
‘So it’s good. In Sri Lanka in domestic games we are not getting that much crowd,’ he said.
Tharanga scored 70 runs in their opening game against Brothers Union and in the very first game some cricketers caught his eye like Ariful Haque and Nazmul Hossain Milon.
Ariful scored 41 runs while Milon played a blistering knock of 70 runs to guide Mohammedan to a 78-run win to open their account on the right note.
Mohammedan will take on Victoria Sporting Club at Savar today in their second game of DPL.
‘I think in the first game our guys did well. The batting department and the bowling also and hopefully we will be in positive mood and it will be better if we win tomorrow’s [today] match,’ said Tharanga.
‘Few of the guys I am seeing them for the first time and really they are good talent.
‘I think there is lot of talent in Ariful and Milon though I am seeing them for the first time,’ he said.
Tharanga is looking forward to play with Mustafizur Rahman if chance arises and though Mohammedan have picked him, chances are slim that the bowler will be available for them.
‘I only saw him at the TV and did not play with him,’ said Tharanga.
‘The way he is bowling at the moment in the IPL he is doing some magic things,’ he said.
‘If we can get him into our team it will get stronger,’ he said.
-With New Age input
