Emerging stars relishing new T10 format
Dhananjaya Lakshan
After Sri Lanka Cricket barred its top international cricketers from playing in the Abu Dhabi T10 league, four young cricketers got the opportunity to play in the tournament. Dananjaya Lakshan (Northern Warriors), Matheesh Theekshana (Northern Warriors), Kevin Koththigoda (Maratha Arabians) and Matheesha Pathirana (Bangla Tigers) tried their hands at the new format that is being in existence since 2017.
Speaking to the Sunday Times Dananjaya Lakshan who was named as the Emerging Player of the inaugural season of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) expressed his views on his first experience in playing in a foreign league.
“It was a great experience,” said Lakshan. “I learned a lot. In T10 cricket, it’s hard to make a game plan to a specific batsman as we have only 10 overs. Bowlers are always under pressure at all times. In this format we have to use our skills wisely as the batsmen will try to attack you throughout the match”.
He also said that the T10 experience will help him in improving his death bowling skills which is an essential skill in T20 cricket but overall it’s a format that is predominantly dominated by batsmen.
In the T10 format the whole match is played as the death overs of a T20 match. According to Dananjaya, the bowlers have to hold their nerve and bowl according to the match situation. The all-rounder also felt that it is difficult to predict the outcome of an over, like in other formats.
Kevin Koththigoda
He believes that bowlers should be able to find a way to bounce back in tough situations, so that he can use the tactic to control the runs that is being scored. At the same time a bowler can be a match winner if the skills are properly executed.
The youngster expressed his views on how this format will affect other formats in the game, especially Test cricket.
“Players these days want to prosper in the shorter formats but Test cricket is the pinnacle of the game. If players can stick to the basics of the particular format it will not affect their mentality in adjusting to any of the four formats,” he said.
All four players held the view that the T10 format encourages batsmen to play according to their instincts. The batsmen should have the mind set to score runs at all times. This format gives the batsmen the opportunity to play without fear.
During the tournament they had witnessed the power hitting skills of the West Indians. According to what they have learnt so far, the format of the tournament is based on the amount of power hitting batsmen a team consists.
As a result of the high scoring rates the average score of a T10 game is around 125.
With the boundary lines being shorter, the bowlers have very little margin of error. So the bowlers must always look to take wickets instead of controlling the amount of runs.
With the prospect of a T10 league on the horizon in Sri Lanka, the players expressed their thoughts about the impact of a tournament such a league will have on Sri Lanka cricket.
Matheesha Pathirana
All of them were of the view that hosting a T10 international league would be a wonderful opportunity for themselves and for all the budding cricketers in the country.
“We had the LPL last year and it was a great success. But T10 is an entirely different format compared with T20 cricket. The format will have its own pros and cons. But more importantly it provides an ideal opportunity for us to play at home. It’s a new concept that helps us to improve our hard hitting abilities. At this point of time it’s hard to predict about the impact of the tournament on Sri Lanka cricket but it is certainly exciting,” said Matheesha Pathirana.
On a positive note, it will be a great experience for them where they will get a chance to play under lights. Local cricketers normally don’t get to play under lights in first class cricket.
“We don’t get to play a lot of cricket under lights in Sri Lanka. I feel it’s not about the format we play. As cricketers we should know to adjust our game according to the required conditions. I hope Sri Lanka cricket will look at this initiative as it is beneficial for us in the future,” added Maheesh Theekshana.
Well! The new concept of T10 cricket seems to have attracted the youngsters to the sport. But it remains to see whether it will change the attitude of the players in the coming years.