Young players should take responsibility after Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Kulasekara, says Dimuth Karunaratne

"For the first few games of the World Cup everyone was panicking and you know, the World Cup was a huge thing, everyone was really under pressure, that's why some of the players couldn't perform well. But after a couple of games they got back on track, and they played good cricket, scored some hundreds. After that they brought that confidence here, and we can see how well the top six have performed. While the bowlers have also done a good job," skipper Dimuth Karunaratne was reported saying by Cricbuzz.

Legendary pacer Lasith Malinga has retired from international duty post the first ODI, while Nuwan Kulasekara had also announced his decision to hang up his boots in the buildup to the series. Combined, the two have 537 wickets and 300-plus ODI appearances. However, the new era, post the two giants, seemS to be promising, glimpses of which were seen in the two victories against Bangladesh.

“Definitely there will be some chances for the youngsters. When the series started, I said that we needed to give young players some chances in order to get them properly prepared for the next World Cup. As such, we're going to be looking at how best to include them, while at the same time keeping in place the best combination to win the match. There won't be a lot of changes, but I expect there will be two or three," he added.