Sri Lanka's white ball series against Zimbabwe starting at the weekend is a chance for the team to show improvement after last year's dismal World Cup campaign, skipper Kusal Mendis said Friday (Jan 5). Mendis led the team to a second-from-bottom placing at the World Cup, after captain Dasun Shanaka withdrew injured, finishing ahead only of the Netherlands.  Appointed one-day captain this week, Mendis said the team had trained intensely to bolster their fielding, after 16 catches were dropped in India.    "Fielding is one area that we have worked really hard during the last two weeks. It was a big letdown for us during the World Cup," he said. "It was bitterly disappointing. We could have fared better in the World Cup had we been more disciplined on the field," he added.  "I can promise you that there's been a lot of hard work and you can see the results in this upcoming series." Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe will play three ODIs starting Saturday followed by three T20 fixtures, all in Colombo.    The one-day matches form part of the Super League that will determine qualification for the next ODI World Cup, in southern Africa in 2027. The past two World Cups were restricted to 10 teams, meaning two-time champions West Indies missed out on the Id=ndia showpiece.  Eleventh-ranked Zimbabwe also missed the last two tournaments, after attending every World Cup from 1983 to 2015, and captain Craig Ervine welcomed plans to accommodate more teams in the next edition.   "It is hugely important that more teams compete in global events such as World Cups. It's better for cricket," he said. "Teams like us don't get to play top teams like India, Australia and England often and events like the World Cup are the only occasion we get to compete against the best."

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif on Saturday lamented how Pakistan's economy is in dire straits with very high inflation, dangerously low foreign exchange reserves and vowed to redirect the country on the path of growth, Pakistan-based Dawn newspaper reported. Nawaz compared how roti, petrol cost way higher today than when he was in power. "Was I ousted for this reason? What is this decision? You are the public, you tell, do you agree with this decision?" He said that if Pakistan was run on his 1990 economic model, "not a single person would have been unemployed, there would be nothing like poverty [...] but today, the condition is so bad that one has to think if they can feed their children or pay electricity bills". The PML-N supremo made the remarks while addressing a massive crowd of supporters at the Minar-e-Pakistan rally in Lahore. Nawaz clarified that these tough economic conditions weren't created during the Shehbaz Sharif-led government but traced back to a long time. The PML-N supremo also waved two copies of electricity bills which he claimed were from his tenure and after he was ousted. "Do you remember how dharnas were held? But we kept doing our work." While addressing his supporters, Nawaz said, "I am meeting you today after several years, but my relationship of love with you is the same. There is no difference in this relationship," he said. "The love I am seeing in your eyes, I am proud of it." He said he never betrayed his supporter nor did he shy from any kind of sacrifice. He recalled how fake cases were framed against him and his party leaders. "But no one abandoned the PML-N flag." "Tell me, who are they who separated Nawaz Sharif from his nation? We are those who built Pakistan. We made Pakistan an atomic power. We brought an end to load-shedding," he said, highlighting how he produced and provided cheap electricity to the people. Responding to the crowd cheering, Nawaz said, "I know you want to hear that I love you too." "Today, trust me, after seeing your love, I have forgotten all my grief and pain. I don't even want to remember. But, there are some wounds that can't ever heal." Nawaz said he had lost his mother and wife "to politics". He recalled how he couldn't pay the final respects to his mother, father or wife despite repeated requests in jail, as per Dawn. The PML-N supremo further recalled the impediments he faced at the time of the atomic bomb launch. "There will be record present in the Foreign Office that Clinton offered me USD 5 billion [...] this happened in 1999 [...] I could have been offered USD 1 billion too, but I was born from the land of Pakistan and it did not give me permission to accept what is against Pakistan's favour." "Tell me, if someone else would have been in my place, you know who, could he have said this in front of the American President? So, do we get punished for this? Are verdicts announced against us for this reason?" he said.