Dubai 26 August : Sri Lanka batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa has said that his experience of playing in IPL 2022, in which he excelled while playing for Punjab Kings, will create plenty of positive energy in the national team prior to the start of the Asia Cup opener against Afghanistan on Saturday.As a player with the Punjab Kings in IPL 2022 Rajapaksa, who is left-handed, showed his power-hitting abilities through two of aggressive strikes.Rajapaksa was 30, and had nine games with the Punjab Kings, scoring 206 runs at a striking rate of 159.68.
He is now contracted with Dubai Capitals in UAE’s coming ILT20 competition in the first quarter of next year.UAE is also the place where Rajapaksa scored 53 off just 31 balls in an Super 10 match against Bangladesh in the last “ear’s’Men’s T20 World Cup, which brought Sri Lanka a five-wicket victory.
“Coming to the Sri Lankan side, I have brought in lots of optimism after having conversations with the majority of the IPL players, including Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal and K.G (Kagiso Rabada).I don’t think I’ll have time to discuss in detail the discussions we had however there was lots of positive energy.I’m hoping that we can bring the same style of cricket across the globe,” Rajapaksa was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
He also spoke about a conversation he was able to have with the hard-hitting England batter Liam Livingstone in his IPL time earlier this year that had a significant influence on him.”For myself, the knowledge I gain from playing in the IPL will bring an energy boost for the team.One of the most enjoyable conversations I had with Liam (Livingstone) was when he said, ‘If you’re in the V, ensure that that the ball is in the trees’.He’d just be that adamant.Proper slam-bang player.”
Sri Lanka are the second-most successful team in the Asia Cup title, winning the trophy five times, following India’s seven titles.Their most recent Asia Cup victory came in Bangladesh in 2014.They’ll be hoping that they can win against Afghanistan to kick off the Asia Cup 2022 in T20I format will give them their sixth win.
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