Give ‘A’ team more matches – Gunawardene
Avishka Gunawardene
The newly-appointed Sri Lanka ‘A’ team coach Avishka Gunawardene is hungry and is looking forward to give his guards many match exposures as possible given that the competition in here is the fiercest and there have been only an iota of games for them since 2019.
“As for the ‘A’ team, I like to see some more ‘A’ team tours scheduled. With my experience with them, ‘A’ team is fiercely contested, because they know the next step is the national level. So you know, you’re playing for two or three slots in the national team,” Gunawardene told the Sunday Times yesterday previewing his work ahead of his second stint with the team.
Gunawardene, fresh after success in the U19 circuit, and entering the ‘A’ team, whose first assignment would be hosting the Australians in June, revealed he is a proactive coach.
Ever since the pandemic came down till to date, there has been only two series, including that of against the Pakistan Shaheens, last year. Hence, as the latest appointee, he is hungry towards more action.
Though Sri Lanka Cricket is yet to announce it officially, there has already been a smooth transition of power between him and his successor, Jehan Mubarak.
“I’ve already told him the shortcomings he needs to work on. My advice for any U-19 coach or even to Jehan is, results are not the main target when it comes to junior level cricket. It’s about identifying players and making sure you identify them properly and to see who you’re going to fast-track. For example, there might be best two players you can fast-track to the next level immediately. At the same time, there will be few other players you know are good enough, but still not ready for the next level. The main objective should be to groom them properly and keep them in the system,” the cricketer-turned-coach explained.
The ex-national cricketer knew returning to the ‘A’ team was on the cards, though he is yet to be notified officially from his employer.
“Just that I was not sure where it is going to be. So far, to be honest, nothing’s confirmed. All I know is, I have handed over the U-19 and the JD (Job Description) or what is next has not been told yet. I think they will probably wait for the new national coach to come, take over and probably announce. But so far nothing has told yet”
When the Sunday Times enquired as to whether is he aware of the appointment, the southpaw responded “My designation does not say “A” team coach. It only reads the National High Performance coach. Nothing has been told so far, but I have been looking after the national set-up and all the other things in the last few weeks.
The Sunday Times learns as the two new national coaches are yet to meet-and-greet the national team, he might be sent to Bangladesh, the team’s next assignment comprising two-match test series, in any capacity.
This could be a near-repeat of the yesteryear’s T20 World Cup, where he was part of the coaching staff as a batting coach.
Reflecting and reviewing on another concluded stint with the juniors, he is disillusioned that they could not equal or beat his own coaching record. It’s under Gunawardena, the juniors have recorded their best performance at the World Cup, reaching until the semis.
This time, however, it was a slip between the cup and the lip of failing to equal that record, after they fell agonisingly short of four-runs against the Afghanistan.
“Kind of disappointed that we had to go off with the quarters,” he rued.
Gunawardena said, preceding to the World Cup, they had played 20 games, of which, the team had registered a handsome record of 15 wins. A winning percentage of 75%. These wins came on the back of white washing then-world champions Bangladesh, beating Australia, England, West Indies and Pakistan before entering the Caribbean.
“That’s a big positive for me as a coach,” he proclaimed, adding that he can be happy about his tenure up until the world cup.
But also he admitted, it would’ve been “nice” to go another couple of steps in the world stage.