The country is in a political mess. The economic crisis in the Island Nation has brought the country to a standstill. From a shortage of food items to medicine - the country is going through a lot. 

But one thing that has kept the nation united is the game of cricket. Despite all the issues - cricket has gone ahead uninterrupted. Sri Lanka’s win over Australia in the recently concluded ODI series was a special one as it has reflected how Sri Lankan cricket has slowly and steadily gotten back to the way it belonged a few years back.

Not only that - Sri Lanka also produced a brilliant show in the Test series against Pakistan. After losing the first Test against Pakistan - they fought back strongly to level the two-match Test series 1-1. They defeated the fellow sub-continent side by massive 246 runs. 

Lankan cricket’s downslide started back in 2015 and continued till July 2021. During this period they lost abroad and at home as well. They fell down in the rankings and none of the star performers took the responsibility to get the team back on the right foot.

Mickey Arthur took over the Sri Lankan team and he completely revamped the team. He started to build up a talent pool and identified the right kind of players that needs to be in the squad. 

Despite not being household names - a number of Sri Lankan players were exceptional during the Indian Premier League earlier this year. Mystery spinners Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana took the league and fans by surprise. Batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa and pacer Dushmantha Chameera also were pretty decent and performed well.

Hasaranga played 16 matches and picked up 26 wickets at an economy of 7.54. Theekshana managed to scalp 12 wickets as he just played nine matches the league. Rajapaksa had a decent outing as well as he scored 206 runs in nine matches for Punjab Kings. Meanwhile, Chameera was expensive in the Indian Premier League but picked up nine crucial wickets in the tournament.

Today, Sri Lanka have built up good squads in all formats of the game and has a variety of players in both bowling and batting departments. What they need most is now to keep the passion and hunger for winning going in their veins. 

The cricket fans of the country have been patiently waiting to see their team get back to winning ways and now it's time that cricketers repay the faith their fans have shown towards them over the last five to six years.