Excitement high as World Cup approaches
by Rex Clementine
Excitement among cricket enthusiasts is high with the T-20 World Cup less than a month away. After years of disappointing performances and underachievement, the team’s fortunes are back on track thanks to meticulous planning. A semi-final finish in the 20-team competition will be highly appreciated.
The national selection panel under Upul Tharanga needs to be commended for addressing obvious issues such as fielding and fitness. Former Test captain Sanath Jayasuriya has been very much hands on after being roped in as a consultant.
Jayasuriya has made several right calls be it bringing in Jerome Jayaratne, a career coach back to the High-Performance Center at RPS from a desk job at Maitland Place or handing over the Fielding Coach role to Upul Chandana.
Chandana had been in the SLC set up for more than ten years and he was always with the Under-19 team without much reward for his excellent work. He was rightly put in charge of the national team and fielding improved leaps and bounds. When a slow mover like Avishka Fernando effects a run out with a direct hit, that too the opposition’s best batter, you know that the players have been doing something right.
Cynics may say that the wins this year have come against Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, but there’s no denying of the fact that there have been improvements in several areas. Afterall, Sri Lanka struggled to beat Afghanistan and Bangladesh last year, losing World Cup fixtures to both teams which effectively knocked them out of the Champions’ Trophy next year.
Mind you the team was placed last in the World Test Championship but by winning both Tests in Bangladesh they have made significant strides. No doubt that backing the discarded Kamindu Mendis helped the team turn things around. Not bad for a player making a comeback to finish as Player of the Series. There were doubts whether Lahiru Kumara would last two Tests but to his credit he finished as the highest wicket taker in the series.
They say that victory has a thousand fathers but defeat is an orphan. There have been some former captains trying to take credit for the recent turnaround. They have conveniently forgotten that their outdated policies and over reliance on foreign coaches saw the team stagnating for two years. Why on earth would you want a little-known foreign coach in charge of your fielding when you have capable men like Chandana?
The first half of the year has been smooth sailing but the second half is quite challenging with the T-20 World Cup and a three Test series to England coming up. There are also home series against India, West Indies and New Zealand followed by a Test tour to South Africa.
One area that the selectors need to keep an eye on is injury management. Why the performances of the team slumped in recent years is because Sri Lanka hardly had all their fast bowlers firing on all cylinders during a big event like the World Cup.
Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara, Matheesha Pathirana, Nuwan Thushara, Asitha Fernando and Kasun Rajitha all available for the World Cup will be quite exciting.
Over reliance on all-rounders is another area that has backfired for the team. Although under the present set up we have moved on a bit from that composition, you still feel that you can cut down on all-round options.
It’s a huge relief that captain Wanindu Hasaranga is available from game one of the World Cup. His exchanges with umpires during heated moments of the game had landed him in hot water.
Hasaranga is not just the captain, he is also the star player of the team. He is a match winner with his leg-spin and then he does the floater role so well clearing the boundaries with his big hits. He is such an inspirational player but in international sports there are dos and don’ts.
No doubt that on both occasions he was hard done by the umpires. But that’s part of the game. There are decisions that go your way and there are ones that go against you. Someone who has represented the country for seven years like Wanindu should know better.
