There is no doubt that the presence of Chris Silverwood as head coach has shown a remarkable change in Sri Lanka’s approach

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

The current Sri Lanka T20I team is shaping up to become a champion side the way they have clinically demolished their opponents so far in the ongoing Asia Cup in the UAE.

By beating India, considered by many opponents as a fortress to be breached because of their steady rise as a cricket power house, Sri Lanka has put themselves in a position to qualify for the final of the Asia Cup with two wins out of two in the Super Four. Pakistan are the only team in the competition other than Sri Lanka who have had success over their arch rivals, having beaten them in the Super Four as well.

If Sri Lanka qualify for the final their opponents at this stage are likely to be Pakistan, whom they have not yet met in the tournament but are billed to play on Friday in the final match of the Super Four.

Although one must admire the way the national T20 team has turned things around and shown signs of once again becoming a force to be reckoned with in the shortest format, one must also give credit to Chris Silverwood the head coach of the team. His enthusiasm whenever Sri Lanka picks up a wicket of a key opposition batsman knows no bounds and is reflected in the team dressing room.

Ever since Silverwood took over the role of head coach there has been a marked improvement in the standard of play in the national teams. We saw that in the ODIs against Australia where Sri Lanka won a series against them at home after 30 years, and in the Tests where Sri Lanka showed they can always come from behind and win. 

Against Australia the number one ranked Test side and against Pakistan, they lost the first Test of the series, but came back strongly to level it on both occasions, and share the spoils. We saw it again in the Asia Cup where Sri Lanka were stunned by Afghanistan in their opening group match, but picked themselves up to beat Bangladesh and qualify for the Super Four where they have beaten Afghanistan and India.  

Sri Lanka’s T20I cricket which has been in the doldrums for the past few years or so is now gradually showing signs of competing as a team and winning. What they lacked is consistency and with three wins in their last three outings, a feat they have not achieved since whitewashing Pakistan 3-0 at Lahore in 2019, there seems to be a remarkable turnaround of the team performances in the Asia Cup.

What Silverwood has done is he has brought an environment into the dressing room where each player is given the freedom to express himself and thereby has allowed the natural talent of the individual to surface. It has brought great unity into the team and bound it together as one family where the success of each player is enjoyed by the rest.

The team is not dependent on one or two individual players but what the matches played so far has revealed is that any one of the eleven playing on that day is prepared to take up the challenge and put his hand up and deliver. That’s why we have seen different players winning the games for Sri Lanka.

With all the success they have had so far, the team is not without problems. There is concern in two areas with Charith Asalanka and Danushka Gunathilaka. Asalanka has been sadly out of form (0, 1, 8 and 0) at number three and needs to be replaced by someone like Dhananjaya de Silva. Also Danushka Gunathilaka, an opening batsman is not playing in his right position being sent to bat at number four, which has not seen him give his best with scores of 17, 11, 33 and 1. 

Gunathilaka should either open (which seems quite unlikely at this stage with Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis firing on all cylinders) or bat at number three. Sri Lanka cannot afford to go into a final where they have two batsmen not striking it right. The bowlers have so far done adequately but one has to be cautious the way the opposition is targeting the team’s number one spinner Wanindu Hasaranga.  Hasaranga and the other spinner Maheesh Theekshana who at times has been bowling too flat have captured only three wickets each and average 38 and 40 respectively. 

Whereas Chamika Karunaratne, Asitha Fernando and Dasun Shanaka are going at an economy rate of well over nine an over, the bowler to impress most has been 21-year-old left-arm fast-medium seamer Dilshan Madushanka who is the second highest wicket-taker in the tournament with six wickets at an economy rate of 7.38.

Sri Lanka’s successes so far have largely been reflected on winning the toss and chasing down totals. The only occasion they batted first (against Afghanistan) they lost. How they will perform if they bat first and try to defend a total in the rest of the tournament will determine to what extent the team has improved, or needs to improve.             

Sri Lanka prove a World Cup point with India win