By Srian Obeyesekere
Sri Lanka’s Chairman of Selectors, Upul Tharanga and Interim Head Coach, Sanath Jayasuriya addressing the media at Sri Lanka Cricket headquarters yesterday stressed the way forward under a new T20 captain in Chairith Asalanka and a change accentuating on the three facets of youth, fitness and performance with young 21-year old batting all-rounder, Chamindu Wickramasinghe getting as well as Kusal Janith Perera and Dinesh Chandimal named in the Sri Lanka squad to face India shortly in the home series at Pallekelle following the good form displayed by the trio in the recent LPL.
It sees a shakeup with veteran Angelo Mathews not considered following Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup debacle that saw Wanindu Hasaranga quit the captaincy.
Significantly, two former towering strengths of the national team in Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga, who opened the batting to some record feats, now in the forefront of the future build up of Lankan cricket, did strike a chord as to the way forward. While Tharanga stressed the need for a long-term captain, so did Jayasuriya as to the need for a specialist batting coach.
Emphasising the importance of consistency and mental strength and that the home Indian series is a good challenge, the Chairman of Selectors said, “It is crucial to having a long-term captain in this team rebuilding process where current performances and fitness levels are important for team selection. Players like Kusal Janith Perera and Dinesh Chandimal who performed well in the LPL have been considered as well as 21-year-old all-rounder Chamindu Wickramasinghe.”
He regretted that under-23 payers had not got a break in the Lanka Premier League, and said that it was intended to change the existing system to maximise youth latent talent through such a tournament which should be an opening for all at the grassroots level in the country. While stating that Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis would open the batting against India either Kusal Janith Perera or Dinesh Chandimal would bat at No.3 with the team composition yet to be decided.
“We have to observe the Pallekele wickets and make decisions. Our openers will likely be Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis, while Kusal Janith or Dinesh Chandimal may bat at number three. The final team composition hasn’t been decided yet,” said Tharanga.
Meanwhile, Tharanga said that a replacement for the injured paceman Dushmantha Chameera, would be announced shortly.
Observing that the batting fell far short of expectations at the word cup, Jayasuriya said Interim head coach Sanath Jayasuriya voiced that the team had been preparing well for the Indian series with the batsmen having come under the eye of Rajasthan Royals’ batting specialist coach Zubin Barucha during a week-long training course while the bowlers had come under former Pakistan pace bowler Aqib Javed who served as a consultant. “It benefitted not only the national players, but also domestic players as well as coaches from the High Performance Unit and even club and school coaches,” Jayasuriya said.
Jayasuriya, who mentioned that he was serving as interim head coach only for the the India and next England Test series, and that the search for a new head coach was underway, emphasised that our batsmen had much to learn from foreign players who performed in the recent LPL such as Rilee Rossouw while also observing that there was much to be done in getting the right mental and physical fitness. “Our players have much to learn from foreign players such as Rossouw in respect of mental and physical fitness,” he voiced.
Jayasuriya made the point that he communicated very closely with the players to getting the best out of them.
He also emphasized that players have a responsibility by the country. Local cricket fans were disappointed about their poor performances at the T20 world cup. Of course, rebuilding process to getting a tip top team was not short term and would take at least another two years.
