Not very often Sri Lanka opt for three men seam attacks in Test cricket. During the tour of Australia in 2012, the Sri Lankans played three seam bowlers in all three Tests, but results were pathetic.
Not in a single game they were able to take all 20 Australian wickets. Needless to say that they were whitewashed 3-0. That tour crushed several myths. Among them was so and so being the best captain to have led the country. That’s beside the point. This is a rare moment to celebrate the scintillating performance of Sri Lanka’s seamers in the second Test against Pakistan in Dubai where they shot out the opposition for 165 runs.
Having fought tooth and nail in the opening Test after a batting collapse in the first innings, the confidence the Sri Lankans had gained in Abu Dhabi seem to be contagious as they gambled outright in the second Test.
As a result not only did they opt to play three seamers – all raw and inexperienced – but were positive from the start and put the opposition in after winning the toss. Hail Angelo Mathews as no captain had put the opposition in in Dubai after winning the toss in a Test Match.
There were plenty of edges and nervous moments in the opening session. Still Pakistan went for lunch at 57 for one, not a position that you needed to overly worry after being put into bat. When teams opt to bowl first in a Test they need a minimum of three wickets in the first session to justify their claim.
The plus for Sri Lanka was that throughout the first session there were plenty of positives for them. But there was a problem. Were Sri Lanka’s seamers disciplined enough to bowl in the right channels post lunch?
Lakmal, Eranga and Pradeep are no Harris, Johnson and Siddle. But the Sri Lankan trio in that post lunch session bowled like the Ashes clinching seam attack. Loose balls were few and rare and the nagging line and length kept asking questions from the batsmen, most of them took the bait eventually losing a game of patience.
Historically Sri Lankan seamers have had the same problem. When one keeps the pressure with tight bowling, the other releases the pressure with loose deliveries. Tom Moody, the successful Sri Lankan coach had an interesting method to pile up pressure. For him the best mode of putting pressure on batsmen was by bowling a succession of dot balls. Moody was of the opinion that dot ball pressure will entice the batsmen to look to manufacture shots that’s not on the cards and will eventually cause the batsman’s downfall.
In Pakistan’s first innings of the seven wickets to fall for seamers, four were caught behind while one was trapped leg before wicket. The best of the dismissals was that of Mohammad Hafeez, who was bowled through the gate by Pradeep.
This has been just one off performance. It remains to be seen how Sri Lanka execute the skills in the second innings and whether they are able to maintain the consistency. Apart from Chaminda Vaas no Sri Lankan seamer has produced outstanding performances in Test cricket on a consistent basis. In the 1980s and 1990s, Sri Lanka’s seamers struggled due to lack of opportunities. Then Vaas came along, but lacked any support. The man selectors and a succession of Sri Lankan captains backed to partner Vaas was Dilhara Fernando, but his career never developed.
In a career that spanned 12 years, Fernando required 40 Tests to claim 100 wickets and picked up five wicket hauls only on three occasions.
One of the most promising seamers who has done reasonably well is left-armer Chanaka Welegedara. But he has been plagued by injuries and has never got a consistent run. He will turn 33 in two months’ time and that’s not an age the selectors look at with too much of kindness, particularly when you are a seamer.
But the current trio of fast bowlers and some of the others like left-armer Vishwa Fernando, Dhammika Prasad and the highly talented Thisara Perera could help Sri Lanka to have a large resource from which they can chose.
Even Pradeep, Eranga and Lakmal have been subjected to several injuries in the last 24 months. Sometimes the way they have been managed has been appalling and there’s a greater responsibility on Sri Lanka Cricket to manage these talents diligently.
Take the case of Pradeep. He was picked to tour England in 2011 and skipper Tillekeratne Dilshan was hopeful that he will play a massive role during the series. But the fast bowler broke down during a warm-up game prior to the Test series due to a freak injury.
It later emerged that Pradeep had been overworked in the IPL that preceded the tour of England. Not that Pradeep played any of the IPL matches, but had been overworked as a net bowler.
The upcoming year where Sri Lanka will play several crucial Test series away from home makes it paramount to have all fast bowlers firing on all cylinders. Their fitness therefore is paramount and efforts need to be taken to preserve them.
