Head Coach credits Sri Lanka ‘A’s success to selecting young players

Sonal Dinusha

Wanuja Sahan

Sri Lanka ‘A’ team Head Coach Avishka Gunawardene

• “It’s a good thing to have a strong back-up bench” says Avishka Gunawardene 

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Sri Lanka ‘A’ cricket team Head Coach Avishka Gunawardene said that his team’s success against Afghanistan ‘A’ in the five-match unofficial ODI series which they won 3-2 and the one-off unofficial 4-day test which was won by an innings to the selection of a young group of players.

“The difference between some of the other ‘A’ team tours and this, is the entire team was pretty young. We had 4-5 debutants playing in the ODI series and in the four-day test another 4 debutants. The plus point is this was a very young side. Generally, a few players who were discarded from the national team come and play,” said Gunawardene.

“Apart from Nisala Tharaka and Oshada Fernando (both over 30), all the other players were young, that was the best part of this series. If you take Pawan Ratnayake, Ahan Wickramasinghe, Wanuja Sahan, Sonal Dinusha and Nuwanidu Fernando, all these guys are in their early 20s.”

“When you have 4-5 guys in their early 20’s coming in and not only playing but performing, you see for the next couple of years they will give a good run to the guys who are playing at international level. I think this is a plus point. Having a good back up bench is always a good thing.”

“If you take Wanuja Sahan, he has proven to be an all-rounder not only a spinner. He was in my Under-19 set up in 2020 from then onwards I have seen him. Now you see players like (Dunith) Wellalage who is only 21 and Sahan who is 20, they are already giving a run to the Prabath Jayasuriyas and the Lasith Embuldeniyas when it comes to spin. Someone like Sonal Dinusha who is an all-rounder who can bat at six and can bowl and field can give a run to the middle order. These are still 21-23 year olds.”

Dinusha, the 23-year-old left-handed all-rounder from Mahanama College is having an excellent domestic season, and capped it with a career best knock of 145 in the one-off 4-day unofficial test against Afghanistan ‘A’ at the P Sara Oval.

“For him, playing his first ‘A’ team game he looks a much matured and very well organised cricketer,” said Gunawardene. He is a good fielder and a useful bowler and proved himself in the National Super League 4-day that he is a very good middle-order bat. He is still young and much matured for his age.”

Explaining the circumstances that led to the Sri Lanka ‘A’ spinners taking wickets in the Afghanistan ‘A’ first innings and the fast bowlers in the second innings, whereas it usually works the other way around in a four-day match, Gunawardene said, “The difference was that there was a little bit more bounce on the track on the second day and the spinners exploited it. The wicket got slightly slower as expected when it came to the fourth day. The fast bowlers bent their backs and got a bit of reverse swing going. Because there was no rain in the last couple of days as was expected, it was quite dry and the ground was also dry, hence the ball started to reverse swing towards the end. The bowlers bowled attacking lines and used their bouncers very well. That was the difference between the first and second innings.”

“The wicket was a good track, it had everything for the bowlers, there was a little bit of grass on one side and it was good enough to bat as well. All and all it was a very good effort by the bowlers getting Afghanistan out in two days on a pretty good track. Tharaka (6/42 in second innings) started taking wickets with the older ball. He bowled a few bouncers to unsettle the batsman and he got the reverse swing going nicely. That was the difference. And of course the spinners from the other side checked the run rate. Basically, it was a collective bowling effort.”

With a tour to Ireland getting cancelled, Sri Lanka ‘A’ next tour will be to South Africa in August ahead of the national team’s tour there, for 3 unofficial ODIs and 2 unofficial 4-day tests.