T20 World Cup 2022: "We're out there trying to bring a smile back to everybody's faces" - Sri Lanka coach Chris Silverwood

Sri Lanka head coach Chris Silverwood has said that the nation's support is with the team as they set their sights on winning the T20 World Cup this year. The former England coach hopes to ride the momentum from their Asia Cup win.

Sri Lanka's recent form has been hugely encouraging, winning the Asia Cup by beating a strong Pakistan side in the final after also beating them in the league. The island nation also beat India on their way to a sixth Asia Cup title.

Speaking from Australia, where Sri Lanka are playing warm-up games before the T20 World Cup, Silverwood said (as quoted by The Times of India):

"The fact that everybody's behind us, the nation is behind us, and we're out there trying to bring a smile back to everybody's faces; for me, it's a positive. Something we can use as energy, and something we have used as energy in the dressing room already."

It's worth noting that Sri Lanka won the T20 World Cup in 2014, beating India in the final in Mirpur. However, Dasun Shanaka and Co. have to compete in the preliminary round to progress to the Super 12 stage.

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"We'll have to learn to cope with them" - Chris Silverwood on the conditions

Chris Silverwood. (Image Credits: Twitter)

Silverwood underlined that Sri Lanka face a challenge on big Australian grounds and will have to work the angles well. He added:

"We have a couple of warm-up games before the Namibia game. We'll play match scenarios among ourselves before that to make sure we can control the environment that we're training in."

"There's the dimensions of the grounds in Australia -- they have some big grounds - we'll have to learn to cope with them. We have to make sure we get the distance right off the boundary to cut the angles down and get the guys used to doing that."

The preliminary stage will begin on October 16, with Sri Lanka facing Namibia in Geelong.