Two ICC suspended countries start white ball series today

 Sri Lanka players and coaching staff have a powwow prior to practice

• Sri Lanka begin a new phase after World Cup debacle

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Two full member countries who have been suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for political interference by their respective Governments, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe commence a white ball series at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium with the first ODI today.

Sri Lanka Cricket are currently still under the ICC suspension imposed on them on 10 November for extensive Government interference in the board’s administration, but allowed to play in bilateral international matches as well as ICC World events. Sri Lanka are hopeful that their suspension will be lifted at the next meeting of the ICC in March.

Zimbabwe suffered a similar fate in July 2018 when ICC suspended them from all forms of cricket over concerns of Government interference in the running of the game. The ban was lifted after nearly three months following meetings with the country’s Government and Zimbabwe Cricket.

For Sri Lanka, the series against Zimbabwe will be their first to try and resurrect their cricket from where it has fallen after the 2023 Cricket World Cup where they fared disappointingly winning only two of the nine league matches to finish ninth out of ten teams. Since that deplorable performance a lot has taken place with a new selection committee in place that has resulted in changes of captains for all three formats.

Kusal Mendis who was pushed into the ODI Captaincy following the injury to Dasun Shanaka after the first two matches in the World Cup has been given the position permanently. All eyes will be focused on how he handles the side as well as the way he progresses with his batting. Prior to taking over the Captaincy in the World Cup, Mendis was at his outstanding best producing scores of 76 and 122. But with the burden of captaincy his personal form suffered scoring 96 runs in his next seven innings with a top score of 39. Being one of the top order batsmen Mendis will have to lead from the front with some big scores if Sri Lanka are to get the better of Zimbabwe in the series.

Zimbabwe cricketers play a game of football during a practice session

One of the few problems Sri Lanka encountered in the World Cup was the absence of a proper opening partner for Pathum Nissanka which resulted in Sri Lanka losing early wickets in the first power play. Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Perera both proved failures. For the series against Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka have brought back Avishka Fernando who will add much needed firepower to the line-up. The middle order picks itself with Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama and newly appointed Vice-Captain Charith Asalanka. If at all there are spots up for grabs it is numbers six and seven. Dasun Shanaka was expected to resolve Sri Lanka’s long standing power-hitting problem in the lower order, but his form had been lacking over the past year or so. Shanaka is likely to get another opportunity in the Zimbabwe series, but will face competition from Sahah Arachchige, Nuwanidu Fernando and Janith Liyanage – all three of whom have impressed domestically and in the LPL in recent years.

With Wanindu Hasaranga not quite ready to make his comeback to international cricket the spin bowling onus once again falls on the shoulders of Maheesh Theekshana who will have the support of Jeffrey Vandersay, Akila Dananjaya and Dunith Wellalage. Without Hasaranga at the opposite end, Theekshana’s performances suffered during the World Cup. His success in the Zimbabwe series will depend on how much support he receives from the three spinners picked along with him. The fast bowling unit will be headed by Dushmantha Chameera and Dilshan Madushanka, fresh from a successful World Cup where he took 21 scalps with Pramod Madushan as backup.

Zimbabwe will want to prove a point on this tour having missed qualifying for two ICC World events, the 2023 Cricket World Cup in India as well as the upcoming 2024 T20 World Cup in West Indies and USA. Recent results have been a major concern for Zimbabwe after they were defeated by associate teams Namibia and Uganda in the T20 World Cup qualifier, becoming the only full member to miss out on the 2024 tournament. They also lost to Scotland in the World Cup qualifiers in July which spoiled their chances of participating in the Cricket World Cup.

To compound matters further two of their all-rounders Wessly Madhevere and Brandon Mavuta with a combined experience of 102 white ball matches between them were suspended by Zimbabwe Cricket from all cricket activities for “allegedly breaching anti-doping rules”.

Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe have met in 61 ODIs with Sri Lanka winning 47, Zimbabwe 12 with 2 No-Results. Zimbabwe have won four of their last eight ODI matches played in Sri Lanka, which is something the Sri Lankan team should take serious note of.