Sri Lanka to make finishing touches in Oman ahead of T20 WC
Sri Lanka’s white-ball plans suffered a setback when three of their top players got suspended over discipline but head coach Mickey Arthur says that, although it’s a “massive blow”, it has opened doors for others to come in.
Speaking ahead of the team’s departure to Oman today to play two T20 games before heading to UAE for the World Cup, Arthur said the incident in Durham that led to the suspension of Niroshan Dickwella, Kusal Mendis and Danushka Gunathilaka was “a bitter pill to swallow” as they were three key players in the side.
“It was a massive blow that put us back into square one in terms of our planning,” Arthur, who is on the last leg of his two-year stint with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), said. “But it also opens up opportunities to other players like Charith Asalanka, Kamindu Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal and Bhanuka Rajapaksa to come in.”
SLC suspended Dickwella Gunathilaka and Mendis after they were found guilty of violating the bio-secure bubble during Sri Lanka’s tour of England in July. Their presence could have made the side stronger as all three are good white-ball cricketers but, given the decline in general team discipline, their suspension was necessary.
Arthur, a well-respected coach who joined the Sri Lanka ranks with a wealth of experience, having coached South Africa, Australia and Pakistan, believes his charges are ready for the World Cup. They have gone through nine-day training sessions to sort out the issues they were grappled with.
The statistics show that
Sri Lanka have lost 22 of their last 30 matches, a clear reflection of decline and the reason for why the country must contest in a qualifying round to earn one of the four available spots in the main tournament.
Arthur admits that batting is
Sri Lanka’s weakest link, but his charges have put in hard yards in training as well as during the three practice games in the hope of coming out of the rut they were in during the South African series. South Africa beat them 3-0.
Sri Lanka will play Oman on October 7 and 9 and will play Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea on October 12 and 14 in warm games before they open their world cup qualifying campaign against Namibia on October 18.
“That’s an area we have been working on extremely hard. We had three practice games and they batted really well. We have made some changes to the batting order and if our batting clicks, it will give a really good chance,” he added. Arthur confirmed that injured opener Kusal Perera has recovered well and was in fine fettle during a practice game played yesterday but added they would not rush him.
This means Kusal Janith will probably sit out the two games in Oman along with Dushmantha Chameera and Wanindu Hasaranga who are currently with the RCB playing in the IPL. This will open up opportunities for fringe players in the 23-man squad.
Skipper Dasun Shanaka commenting on the series ahead said that they have a fair understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the Oman team, even though they are meeting them for the first time in a game. The Oman team is coached by Duleep Mendis, the former Sri Lanka cricket captain.