"Right now, I'm feeling very sleepy," Charith Asalanka announced, to peals of laughter around the room. It was a brutally honest opening quip from Sri Lanka 's captain, who had flown into Dubai from Harare via South Africa just hours earlier for the men's T20 Asia Cup .

Asalanka had just played back-to-back T20Is in Zimbabwe on September 6 and 7, wrapped up the series, packed his bags, boarded a long-haul flight, and landed straight into the Dubai heat, only to be whisked off to a pre-tournament photoshoot and a captains' press conference.

"I should answer this question tomorrow, I think," Asalanka said with a wry smile. "It's really hard to play back-to-back games and then travel straightaway. I think we actually need a couple of days off. I hope the coach will give us [that].

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