Sri Lanka had to wait till the 11th hour to figure out which group of the Super 12 stage they will be competing in the ICC T20 World Cup here in Australia.
United Arab Emirates were playing virtually a dead rubber in Geelong on Thursday against Namibia with no chance of progressing. But their upset win over the Namibians, who had started off the campaign with a shock win over former champions Sri Lanka, ousted Namibia while Netherlands progressed.
Until the last over in Geelong on Thursday in the last qualifying round game of the group, Sri Lanka weren’t sure whether they would top the group or finish as runners-up. With Namibia being knocked out, Sri Lanka and Netherlands progressed. Thanks to their superior Net Run Rate, Sri Lanka topped the group and are pooled alongside Australia, England, New Zealand, Afghanistan and Ireland. Had Namibia won over UAE, Sri Lanka would have finished second and guess their opponents, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, India, Pakistan and South Africa.
Read : Replacements confirmed for Chameera and Gunathilaka
If you look at the last World Cup in UAE, Sri Lanka stormed through the qualifying round and the associate nations were no match for Dasun Shanaka’s side. However, this time around, they struggled a bit and leading into the last qualifying round game were facing the threat of elimination. The game against Netherlands eventually became a must win affair.
Injuries to key players was the foremost reason for Sri Lanka blowing hot and cold. Heading into the Super 12 stage, five of their players are injured and three have been ruled out of the competition. Looking at Binura Fernando, the replacement for Dilshan Madushanka, his run up and movements do not look all that convincing. Mind you, he too is coming off after a long lay-off due to injuries.
The loss of Dushmantha Chameera is the biggest of them all. With extra pace and bounce, Chameera could get you early wickets with the new ball and not many teams fancied taking him on in the death overs. Who is going to do that role in the second round is the big question.
Why have there been so many injuries is a question that’s worth asking. While experts have pointed at the soft surfaces in Geelong, which is virtually an Aussie Rules Football ground, being the main reason for so many players breaking down with muscle injuries, others have pointed at the extreme cold. On some nights, the temperature fell below ten degrees Celsius and for players who have never experienced those kinds of conditions, it is a challenging task.
Once the World Cup is over, the team’s think tank need to sit down and discuss why we are having so many injuries. Something has to be wrong with our training system. We have some of the finest trainers and physiotherapists in the world and they should be able to tell us how we can overcome the problem.
Cricket is a skills game. If you ask someone like Chaminda Vaas, the nation’s super fit fast bowler, his secret of longevity is that he did a lot of running. The great man he is, during his 17 year international career, he only had one major injury and missed just one tour – Sri Lanka in England in 1998. Not only did he feature in over 100 Test matches, he also had numerous stints with various English counties for over a decade.
The current tendency seems to be lot of gym work rather than running. But if you ask Vaasy, he would tell you that running strengthens your muscles and makes you fitter. Some of our quicks of yesteryear like Ashantha de Mel would say the same thing.
Sri Lanka’s fate in this World Cup is similar to that of their 2015 campaign in the 50 over World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. It started with Dhammika Prasad breaking down on the eve of the World Cup and by the time Sri Lanka reached the quarters, half the side had gone back home and they were not up for the challenge.
Such a shame that the team couldn’t build on their momentum of the Asia Cup win and if they had all their players at their disposal, Sri Lanka could have come up with a campaign like the last T-20 World Cup where they narrowly missed out on a semi-final berth.
However, there are positives in this campaign so far. The biggest of them all is Kusal Mendis turning a huge corner. Over the years, he has been bit of a disappointment, throwing away his wicket when it had looked like it’s hard to dislodge him. But in this tournament, he had come up with some match winning performances, batting through the innings, setting aside his casual approach. The risks he’s taken are calculated ones.
Then there’s of course Pathum Nissanka who has apart from playing the anchor role has improvised when there had been mini collapses.
We are yet to see the best of Dasun Shanaka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa and when they all click, Sri Lanka could pose a few challenges to title contenders.
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