PREVIEW
By Srian Obeyesekere
Sri Lanka and Pakistan renew rivalry in a T20 World Cup build up of two sides striving to raise their stocks in the ICC team rankings from bad pasts with the Lankans further pushed back following the most recent 3-0 series defeat at the hands of the Pakistanis which was a home terrain upswing for Salman Aga installed in the leadership in a bout of head rollings in taking over from Mohamed Rizwan who had been looked to by the Pakistan Cricket Board to deliver in replacing star batsman Babar Azam whose stars failed him in a long form rut in such a random shake up.
That Sri Lanka too mounts its game in the sophisticated short format of world cricket’s fast fad wonderment that has lit up the game in explosive rocket like science for the abounding thrills and spills by largely improvised batting skills, in a somewhat similar backdrop of captaincy shake ups of a reinstated former deposed captain in Dasun Shanaka over poor batting form and captaincy performance in a U-Turn newly restored faith by the new Chairman of Selectors, Pramodya Wickramasinghe for his successor Charith Asalanka following a sudden form and overall failure is indeed a move that will be closely watched by the local cricket crazy fan base as to how paying it would be. In that perspective the shift does swing back the onus on Dasun Shanaka like a lightning bolt as to whether he would come good a second time in the job as the expectations of an over 21 million population to whom the game has become a religion like passion look to the winning change of the big trophy golden glitter that fires the imagination of a bygone cricketing generation of the likes of Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga, Sanath Jayasuriya and Muttiah Muralidaran brought home the Cricket World Cup in 1996 and the likes of Lasith Malinga, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Rangana Herath the 2014 T20 World Cup.
It is this lost shine of a departed great breed that the nation has yearned to witness again in a long time.
Indeed, Sri Lanka is nor short of the ammunition going by the performances of some of the new cast.
But it is the will and the application to making it happen that is looked to by Sri Lankans as this new squad that also possesses some new discoveries gets together to challenge Pakistan in that big world cup run up. The experienced batting campaigner Dhananjaya de Silva’s presence for the stoic technically equipped balance he brings to the game must be viewed as a beefing up move while young spin find Traveen Mathew’s drafting for his wicket taking domestic form is interesting.
Overly, Whether the 34 year old over 6 feet gangling Dasun Shanaka will rise to that big challenge of translating the stature of physique that does make him a giant in the middle into the willow works he is capable of to firing Sri Lanka back to that old pristine by leading from the front are the great local expectations as Sri Lanka strives as a first step to even up on the lost series to the Pakistanis to going up that high road to world cup stakes round the corner.
Pakistan, for its part will be focussed to extending its winning ways to raising their standings in the build up to the T20 World Cup as the current team will look to compensate for the rested Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi.
Sri Lanka squad:
1) Pathum Nissanka, 2.) Kamil Mishara, 3.) Kusal Mendis 4.) Kusal Perera, 5.) Dhananjaya de Silva, 6.) Charith Asalanka, 7.) Dasun Shanaka – Captain, 8.) Janith Liyanage, 9.) Kamindu Mendis, 10.) Wanindu Hasaranga, 11.) Dunith Wellalage, 12.) Maheesh Theekshana, 13.) Dushan Hemantha, 14.) Traveen Mathew, 15.) Dushmantha Chameera, 16.) Matheesha Pathirana, 17.) Nuwan Thushara, 18.) Eshan Malinga.
Pakistan squad:
Salman Agha (Captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Nafay (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Salman Mirza, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wk), Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wk), Usman Tariq