Oshada makes a statement for a Test recall

Oshada Fernando

• Leading run-getter in NSL 4-day tournament with 885 runs
• Wins Best Batsman award for second time

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

With the tour of England for three Tests of the ICC World Test Championship in mind, the third edition of the National Super League 4-day tournament was played with Duke balls which have more swing and are used in England for international matches. The first two editions of the NSL 4-day tournament the balls used were Australian Kookaburra.

Although in hot and humid Sri Lankan conditions the Duke ball would not have swung as much as it would in England, nevertheless the batsman to make full use of it and score the most runs was Oshada Fernando who accumulated 885 runs from 9 matches averaging 68.07. He hit two centuries, one of which one was a double hundred and 7 fifties. His performance with the bat coupled with that of team mate Pasindu Sooriyabandara who also topped 800 runs enabled Galle to win the title for the first time beating Kandy in the final by seven wickets.

Fernando along with Sooriyabandara shared the Best Batsman of the Tournament prize. For Fernando it was his second such award in the tournament having won it outright in the inaugural year in 2022, aggregating 721 runs in 6 matches for Kandy at an average of 80.11 with 4 hundreds and 3 fifties.  

With the NSL 4-day being considered as the yardstick for Test selection, Fernando’s performance should not go unnoticed by the new selection committee headed by former ODI captain Upul Tharanga when they sit down to pick the side to England for the Test series starting in August.

Fernando lost his place after the tour to New Zealand in March 2023 when he scored 52 runs in four innings, to Nishan Madushka for the home series against Ireland a month later, despite the fact that he has been a consistent scorer.

Madushka had been making a lot of noise with the bat scoring 1229 runs (avg. 94.53) in 10 matches with five hundreds including a triple century for Ragama CC in the SLC Major League tournament, and 364 runs (avg. 91.00) with two centuries in two unofficial tests for Sri Lanka ‘A’ against England ‘A’ - performances that the former selection committee could not ignore.

Madushka cemented his place as Dimuth Karunaratne’s opening partner with a double century against Ireland in only his second Test, but since then has made only two fifties in his last 10 innings, which allows Fernando to make a case for inclusion following his prolific run-making in the recently concluded National Super League 4-day tournament.

Last year when Pakistan toured Sri Lanka for two Tests as part of the ICC World Test Championship, Fernando scored 113 out of a total of 196 for SLC President’s XI against Pakistanis in a two-day warm-up game played at Hambantota. No other batsman made more than 21. The Pakistani bowling team consisted of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Hasan Ali, Abrar Ahmed, Aamer Jameel and Noman Ali.

Fernando admitted the reason for his success this year was the practice and fitness schedules that he underwent and the fact that all the matches were played on good tracks. Since making his Test debut in that famous one-wicket win against South Africa at Durban in February 2019, the 32-year-old right-hander from St Sebastian’s College, Moratuwa has appeared in 21 Tests scoring 1091 runs (avg. 33.06) with one century and seven fifties. He has opened the innings as well as batted in the number three slot on several occasions which makes his position flexible at the top.