Though the Faith and excitement restored with New captain and New looked Sri Lankan ODI team; has faded away for Sri Lankan cricket fans, indeed they will turn up for action when Sri Lankan team march into the field in Mirpur today for the 3rd and final ODI.
It is true that Sri Lankan team has all sorts of questions to answer after two poor performances with the bat in first 2 ODIs where their Top Order seems clueless at some disciplined bowling from Tigers. Lankan batters do not need to look too far for inspiration or examples of how to manure the ball in non-powerplay overs and build a partnership, as they can just pick it up from the opposition camp where two of their most experienced batters Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah showed them twice in the series how to get the job done in middle overs in sub-continent pitches. This has been a real struggle for SL top order in numerous times throughout last few years due to their inability to rotate strike, which is an essential part of modern white ball game. Its rather disappointed to see most of the batters lack the intend to pick up singles and mitigate the pressure in the early part of their innings. The next major issue SL batters must address is not converting starts they get to into big ones. They have consumed more than 20 deliveries and look well settled- in at the time of they are getting out, something you cannot afford at the highest level of cricket.
Its a contentious that whether two KUSALs seemed extra-burdened with their responsibilities seeing their intent with the bat, as both of them tried to be more speculative which is not by far their piece of cake. Adding that might not the greatest place to be in, for someone who is making a comeback to the national side after a horrendous run with the bat.
Speaking of the New Looked Sri Lankan team, top order batsman Pathum Nisshanka and middle order batsman Ashen Bandara are the only two players who you consider as new as all the others have been in the side for more than 3-4 years and with plenty of experience under their belt. It leads the team management to figure out investing on players by giving them a continuous run as some of the opportunities may turn out to be an expense instead of an investment. Adding up; If you take a closer look at the way of SL batters are getting dismissed, it is obvious that repeating the same mistake has become a habit among them.
Kudos to the Sri Lankan bowling unit as they were able to restrict a good-looking Bangladesh batting line up for 250 in two occasions in batting friendly conditions. Chameera looked impressed with his lengths, fitness and the execution and could well be the leader of the pack moving forward. Need not to mention that Sandakan is consistent with his inconsistency which has been his key feature throughout the career.
True that it is still early days to judge KJP as a captain, yet it was notable that he tries to bowl out 50 overs cautiously rather than going for the kill when it is up for the grab. This was well in display where he over-bowled both Sandkan in the first match and Shanaka in the second causing Chameera not finishing up his quota despite being the best bowler in the first game upfront.
It was in debate that whether Sri Lanka requires bit of experience in the middle order after Skipper himself stated that “lack of experience cost us the game “ during the post-match interview. It is evident that to bat along in middle overs it demands unique skill set which a player need to possess inherently or need to acquire by playing number of matches at the top level. Making the likes of Angelo Mathews may sound like a perfect candidate to fill in the patch as the veteran All-Rounder has proven himself at that position over the years.
Looking up to today’s game it s more of a battle for regaining pride for SL boys as per their very own legend Sanath Jayasuriya tweets “
National Pride is at stake boys fight to the last” . Niroshan Dickwella is likely to earn a place in the XI and most probably will keep wickets in terms of team news coming in from Mirpur; which will force a change in bating order for the good. New looked team has plenty to answer in terms of their intent, individual game plans and aggression though they got nothing to lose which set the stage perfectly to play “Fearless Cricket” as the skipper ordered prior to the tournament. (Tharana Ravindu)
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