Battle of the ‘Second Strings’
The heat is on: Dasun Shanaka leads for the first time in ODI cricket as Sri Lanka looks for fresh start. Pic SLC.
A depleted, decimated and a demoralised Sri Lanka will start this afternoon against a still-strong ‘second string’ India in the tour-opening first One Day International (ODI), to be played behind closed-doors at 3.00pm in an all-day-night tour at the R. Premadasa Stadium.
Host come into the contest in horrendous form with on-and-off the field fiascoes. The severely depleted side would be led by yet another new 50-over captain for the umpteenth time, Dasun Shanaka, with he also leading an unofficial second string squad.
The home side has had as many as 10 captains in the recent past, and this year alone, three captains- Dimuth Karanuratne, Kusal Janith Perera and Dasun Shanaka. Eyes and hopes would be on captain-cum-all-rounder, Shanaka, to lead the side during low times, produce unlikely wins and repeat the heroics as he delivered in Pakistan, albeit that was on a T20 platform.
Sri Lanka has turned to the 29-year-old Shanaka as the saviour for a side, which has been that lousy and lackluster over the last several months, losing seven of their last nine games handsomely. Their only win came against Bangladesh in the final ODI in May, while their last game against England was washed out.
Minod Bhanuka, while opening for his side along with Avishka Fernando, will have to juggle wicket-keeping duties, in the absence of the injured and axed skipper, Perera.
Of the uninjured lot, it would be the overlooked seniors, especially the ex-captains Dimuth Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews. Mathews was in line to earn a recall to the side but disillusioned by selectors youth centred policy, he has decided to take time off to decide his future. Mathews has the best ODI average behind Kumar Sangakkara, the highest run-scorer in the format for Sri Lanka.
In addition to Mathews and Karunaratne, the team is also without the suspended trio of Niroshan Dickwella, Kusal Mendis, and Danushka Gunathilaka. They are facing disciplinary inquiry over breaching the bio-secure bubble during their recent tour to England.
In an insufficient but compensating news, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, returns to the squad bagging an ODI debut on a long-anticipated return. Rajapaksa, a top-order batsman and a likely role in the series too, had to overcome a few scares of virus exposure, before he was drafted into the squad. His inclusion comes few weeks after he was fined $5000, approximately Rs 1 million and slapped with a suspended sentence for publicly criticising the team management when he was asked to drop a few pounds to be fitter and stronger.
Dushmantha Chameera, who has shown much promise in recent tours, would be spearheading the new-ball attack, and Chamika Karunaratne is set to share the task. Of the handful of experienced lot, Isuru Udana has made the cut entirely on the grounds, he makes a lanky left-arm, though he is yet to fire.
For the visiting Indians, it would be opener Shikhar Dhawan’s debut as a captain, under the charge of respected and revered coach, Rahul Dravid. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, in addition to his bowling duties, will be deputising Dhawan, and is returning from a spate of injuries.
Completing the bowling department with slow bowling, it could be Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav. Hardik Pandya may fill up the middle-order as he is a handy unit as an all-rounder.
On paper, the opponents look the apparent favourites with 91 wins to 56, with nearly a dozen (11) no results. Even otherwise, they easily appear the favourites, based on overall results.
| Shanaka bats for long term captaincy | |
| The new white-ball captain Dasun Shanaka feels that a captain should be given at least a year to build stability and trust, in order for the skipper to settle with his brigade.“I’m not saying this because I’m the captain, but any leader should be granted an extended run of at least a year or so. Only then the leader-of-the-pack and the pack themselves will have time to settle,” he told reporters, in a virtual pre-series presser, yesterday (17). “There has been no discussion with the selectors,” he disclosed on long-term captaincy, saying that selectors are also along the same line of thinking of restoring the “long-term captaincy”. The management has had this practise of hiring-and-firing captains for their whim-and-fancy and that doing no good be it on the entire team or the leader. Sri Lanka has had 10 captains in four years and three this year, contributing to Sri Lanka’s dwindling fortunes across formats. Asked as to how challenging the series is going to be, “It’s a big challenge. We all know our senior players are not there, but we should not be disheartened by that because we have a team of players who have played well in domestic and franchise cricket,” Shanaka, now a leader of the shorter format also, sounded positively. “Only thing is they lack experience. It’s always challenging. International cricket and outside issues all impact on players but we need to forget all that and move on,” he said. Despite adversity running-high, it already seems to be bringing out the leader in Shanaka. Though Indians appear the superior side, he was confident the series is evenly poised and a leader, who trusts his troops. “The series is even. We have played in IPL, but not much international cricket. I am confident of giving a good fight. I cannot guarantee of win but I trust my players and I discussed my plans with them,” |
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