“Hopefully I’ll still play till the next 50-over World Cup,” Athapaththu told the host broadcaster when asked if she would promise her fans they’ll see her play for a long time in Sri Lanka colours. The dates for next year’s World Cup have not yet been confirmed, but India will host the tournament.
This means that Athapaththu will be around for the next two global events – this year’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh, set to be played in October, and the ODI version next year.
Athapaththu was once again instrumental to her team’s success at the Asia Cup. Not only did she hit 61 off 43 in the final as Sri Lanka chased down 168, she was also by a huge distance the top run-scorer in the tournament, having hit 304 in five innings, at a strike rate of 147. The next-best was India’s Shafali Verma, with 200 runs at a strike rate of 141.