By Srian Obeyesekere
Expressing concern about what he described as hiccups in the top order batting which was resultantly shaky in a primary aim to fixing the ideal batting line-up for the next T20 World Cup which had influenced the drafting of veteran campaigner and former national captain Dinesh Chandimal whom he hinted could be manning the pivotal No 3 slot, Sri Lanka’s Head Coach Sanath Jayasuriya said that he expected one of the top three to bat through the innings for a compatible score going into today’s decisive crunch game at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium.
Commenting on beefing up the batting Jayasuriya further said of Chandimal. “Chandimal is back in the T20 squad following a 3-year sidelining and importantly we have identified the value input this very experienced batsman packs. He had been an asset to Sri Lanka performing well at test match level where the satisfying factor about him has been that he has done exactly what we expect of him for the team. Therefore , I believe that Chandimal is a player capable of taking on responsibility to maximising his contribution with the bat and would be an asset to the team.”
Jayasuriya commented that unfortunately there was an issue as to the form of Avishka Fernando who let down in the last game. “Avishka is a very talented batsman with every skill. There is no doubt about his skill. But the unfortunate thing is that Avishka’s failure has been mental than skill and then that is a problem.”
IN FAIRNESS TO AVISHKA
Of course, in fairness to the hard hitting Avishka Fernando, he appeared for the first time after quite sometime in the sidelines, and pointedly he has delivered as an opener and not forgetting his 2019 world cup century when others failed which was one of the two dream tons in a world cup along with Angelo Mathews. showpiece highest level.
The head coach played down questions by the media as to why spin bowling all-rounder, Dunith Wellalage is being kept under wraps and not given continuity despite having been a proven match winner at the Premadasa Stadium. Jayasuriya contended that Wellalage’s inclusion in the team largely depends on the wicket conditions. However, in Wellalage’s favour is the fact that he has bowled Sri Lanka to victory at this venue which has been known to traditionally wear off favouring spin on several occasions including stunning India last year.
WELLALAGE NOT GIVEN CONTINUITY A SETBACK
His omission has raised the question that such a match winning bowler who is also quite an useful lower order batsman not been giving the necessary continuity despite performing has resultantly stalled his progress which is a sorry factor to Sri Lanka’s progress as a whole.
Jayasuriya held positive that the team was focussed to atoning for that last defeat to optimising their performance to living up to the home crowd expectations which would turn up in full force to cheer them on.