By Srian Obeyesekere

Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup campaign take off on a 25-member provisional squad will strictly require nothing short of an essentially extreme rigorous training overhaul importantly on a lengthy residential phase out under the chosen professional coaching expertise to putting on the much desired winning cap if the former 2014 champion nation is to seriously muscle through sophisticated giant oppositions armed and breathing fire by progressively growing new techniques by the day in cricket’s shortest format wonderment that leaves no room for the half hearted to thrive.

In such an intensely challenging backdrop where reigning champions India remain the rock to smash through in their own hosting terrain pedestal rendering the challenge iceberg enormous with cricket’s most professional powerhouse over the years Australia and other quarters with that surprising element in this quick, fast fad demanding version that has taken world cricket to mountainous heights by breathtaking feats, indeed Sri Lanka’s world cup campaign will be about whipping up the available talent in a hundred per cent maximisation of rubbing shoulders with the best in the arena. Therein, the challenge ahead is about ultimate player steeling in the think tank expertise weeding through and getting the right mix. A gathering challenge to coming to cup winning terms since Sri Lanka last did in 2014 under the captaincy of Lasith Malinga with the threesome stalwarts of Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Tillekeratne Dilshan. Such a thrust under the recalled Dasun Shanaka to lead from a once chucked out form related loss of faith with reinstated Chief Selector, Pramodya Wickramasinghe justifying the recall of the 34-year old to deliver on his strong basis that Shanaka carries the experience of having led in three previous world cups, will of course be to achieving a cup dream from three failed attempts. In such a humdrum, certainly Dasun Shanaka will carry the overall weight of not just leading from the front, but to playing the firebrand cricket that the T20 version demands where he will necessarily need to shed what has been an ordinary performance run to galvanizing himself to taking opposing bowling attacks apart to setting the tone by example to the rest as the leader in the pack. That Shanaka possesses that fiery element in his batting there is no doubt given the background of the improvising stroke play by which he broke into the national limelight. What he will essentially need to get over is an apparent mental bog down that affected his batting following a lean patch and the captaincy burden. While he has shown signs of breaking loose since his recall as a player, his second coming calls for a hundred percent tuned up Shanaka to shredding bowling attacks in a highly lethal scenario where the Indians and Australians have raised their game by the likes of reigning champions new trump card Abhishek Sharma and the resurrected hitman Rohit Sharma and Kohli back in his king size run making stature.
Thus, the Lankan final 15 demands of a thorough weed out where there can be no room for half hearted performances. This also relates to the bowling and fielding where in the first area there ate champion bowlers of the likes of Wanindu Hasaranga and Dushmantha Chameera, but where the overall gelling effect of the rest will be paramount to winning over big-time batters. That a flagging fielding department has come under the chosen expertise of former India national fielding coach R. Sridhar is indeed a huge bonus to getting the right rhythm where there is no room for dropped catches and misfielding in as demanding area that dictate results.

In such an intensely challenging backdrop where reigning champions India remain the rock to smash through in their own hosting terrain pedestal rendering the challenge iceberg enormous with cricket’s most professional powerhouse over the years Australia and other quarters with that surprising element in this quick, fast fad demanding version that has taken world cricket to mountainous heights by breathtaking feats, indeed Sri Lanka’s world cup campaign will be about whipping up the available talent in a hundred per cent maximisation of rubbing shoulders with the best in the arena. Therein, the challenge ahead is about ultimate player steeling in the think tank expertise weeding through and getting the right mix. A gathering challenge to coming to cup winning terms since Sri Lanka last did in 2014 under the captaincy of Lasith Malinga with the threesome stalwarts of Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Tillekeratne Dilshan. Such a thrust under the recalled Dasun Shanaka to lead from a once chucked out form related loss of faith with reinstated Chief Selector, Pramodya Wickramasinghe justifying the recall of the 34-year old to deliver on his strong basis that Shanaka carries the experience of having led in three previous world cups, will of course be to achieving a cup dream from three failed attempts. In such a humdrum, certainly Dasun Shanaka will carry the overall weight of not just leading from the front, but to playing the firebrand cricket that the T20 version demands where he will necessarily need to shed what has been an ordinary performance run to galvanizing himself to taking opposing bowling attacks apart to setting the tone by example to the rest as the leader in the pack. That Shanaka possesses that fiery element in his batting there is no doubt given the background of the improvising stroke play by which he broke into the national limelight. What he will essentially need to get over is an apparent mental bog down that affected his batting following a lean patch and the captaincy burden. While he has shown signs of breaking loose since his recall as a player, his second coming calls for a hundred percent tuned up Shanaka to shredding bowling attacks in a highly lethal scenario where the Indians and Australians have raised their game by the likes of reigning champions new trump card Abhishek Sharma and the likes in the run making stature.

Thus, the Lankan final 15 demands of a thorough weed out where there can be no room for half hearted performances. This also relates to the bowling and fielding where in the first area there ate champion bowlers of the likes of Wanindu Hasaranga and Dushmantha Chameera, but where the overall gelling effect of the rest will be paramount to winning over big-time batters. That a flagging fielding department has come under the chosen expertise of former India national fielding coach R. Sridhar is indeed a huge bonus to getting the right rhythm where there is no room for dropped catches and misfielding in as demanding area that dictate results.