When Sri Lanka last played an ODI, I was 29 and now I am 32: Chamari Athapaththu

When Sri Lanka women take the field against Pakistan in the first ODI in Karachi on June 1 2022, it would have been 966 days since they played their previous One Day International. While it’s true that the pandemic affected the sporting world and made things difficult for all teams, Sri Lankan women were hit the worst of all.

Since the 2020 Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia, their male counterparts have played 14 Tests, 18 ODIs and 28 T20Is, while the Sri Lankan women got to play in one one-dayer in the ICC ODI World Cup Qualifiers and four T20Is in the Commonwealth Qualifiers. With the ODI Qualifiers in Zimbabwe getting called off midway due to the Covid-19 outbreak in the bi-bubble, they missed the 2022 ODI World Cup in New Zealand for the first time since 1993.

Having played more matches, Bangladesh, Pakistan and West Indies qualified based on ICC rankings. During this period Sri Lankan Chamari Athapaththu has been a torchbearer of sorts, lighting up in the Women’s Big Bash League, Women’s T20 Challenge and now in the FairBreak International tournament in Dubai with her swashbuckling performances.

With the Pakistan tour coming up, followed by a packed calendar in the next eight months (Commonwealth Games in England and 2023 T20 World Cup in South Africa) Athapaththu opens up with The New Indian Express about the tough couple of years Sri Lanka has had, her experience in franchise-based leagues, exciting young talents coming up in Sri Lanka, her batting, leadership skills, and more.