Wanindu Hasaranga previews Sri Lanka v South Africa
02/06/2024
Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York, USA
02/06/2024
Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York, USA
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SportsTranscript
00:00Good afternoon everyone and welcome to this pre-match press conference with Sri Lanka
00:04captain Wanindu Hasaranga.
00:09As always I just want to ask if you can please put up your hand before you begin now that
00:14we've got a lot more people in the room and then I will let you know who will go first.
00:22Who would like to go first?
00:26Hi, Karan Nair from Tripura Times.
00:32Just wanted to know after being here, played the matches and how do you find the other
00:39conditions and how well prepared are you for the match?
00:45First of all we prepared really well, we came two weeks early to North Carolina and we had
00:51a practice session there and we played two practice matches in Florida and I think as
01:00a team we prepared really well and conditions similar to Sri Lanka, so I think as a team
01:08we prepared really well.
01:15Speaking specifically about the international cricket ground that you're going to play at
01:21tomorrow, how do you think the pitch will behave given that it's brand new?
01:28We saw the practice games against India and Bangladesh, we saw the wickets and it's like
01:37bounce is uneven and we saw like tennis ball bounce, I think otherwise wicket was good
01:49and you know good outfield as well, so I think it will be helpful for our bowlers.
02:00Are you surprised that cricket has come to America and how different has it been for
02:06you as an experience?
02:07Typically America is not on the map when you're talking about cricket but you're here, so
02:12are you surprised about that and how has it been so far for you?
02:16America is fantastic, we came early and we had a few practice sessions and we adjusted
02:23to the conditions first in North Carolina and we came to the ICC event, so far we had
02:36a good practice session and we had a good time in America and now we have a game tomorrow
02:44from start tomorrow, so we are ready.
02:50It's not often that you play a T20 match at 10.30 in the morning, so what is the kind
02:54of preparation, what are the challenges, you may be used to playing under lights in these
02:59kind of games, so do you have to prepare differently for those starts?
03:02No, if we play under lights then we have to prepare with the field and everything under
03:11the lights and then the only concern is we have to come early to the ground, we have
03:20to come at 7.30 in the morning because we were so far from the ground, it will take
03:28like one and a half hours to the ground, that's the only concern we have.
03:37Which area have you strengthened and especially your spin has always been your strong point
03:43and how useful it will be against an opponent like you are facing tomorrow?
03:49Yeah, you know me and Mahesh Dixit we are both in the top five in the ICC rankings and
03:57we have good fast bowlers as well, we also have Mahesh Dixit and Nuvan Tushar, they played
04:06IPL matches in India, so we have a very strong bowling attack, so I think that's a key point
04:15we have.