Monday Sep 23, 2024
Monday Sep 23, 2024
Friday, 10 February 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Madushka Balasuriya
Lasith Malinga will turn out for the national side for the first time in nearly a year after he was declared fit to play a part in Sri Lanka’s T20I series against Australia in February. However, Dinesh Chandimal, who had led Sri Lanka to a T20I series win in South Africa, will miss out following a dismal run with the bat.
Upul Tharanga looks set to continue in the role of Captain in place of the injured Angelo Mathews, while the squad also sees returns for batsmen Chamara Kapugedara and Dilshan Munaweera, and allrounders Milinda Siriwardena and Dasun Shanaka, all of whom were left out of the squad to South Africa.
While Chandimal’s exclusion was mostly expected, with a top score of 36 over the course of the entire South Africa tour, Dhananjaya de Silva might feel a little hard done by his omission. De Silva had been one of Sri Lanka’s breakout performers in their Test series whitewash over Australia last year, with his technique and unruffled style setting him apart from other up-and-comers, however an unspectacular series against South Africa will mean he will have to grind it out on the domestic circuit to make the cut for the Champions Trophy in June.
Others to miss out on the Australia tour will be pace duo Nuwan Pradeep and Suranga Lakmal, and seamer Vikum Sanjaya, who was in the touring squad to South Africa but did not play.
Malinga’s return meanwhile comes nearly a year on from his last outing for the team - last February in an Asia Cup encounter against UAE in Dhaka. Malinga pulled out of that tour and the World T20 in India due to a knee injury, which subsequently kept him out for the rest of the year. However, the now 33-year-old quick was looking significantly trimmer as he explained his preparation for the tour.
“Over the last few months I have been training especially for the T20 format,” he explained at a media briefing yesterday. “I’ve also been putting a lot of practice into specific types of deliveries and so on. It’s due to this that I am quite confident about performing well.”
Malinga has been training under the care of High Performance Manager Simon Willis, and SLC Chairman Thilanga Sumathipala stated that the eventual goal is to get him fit for the Champions Trophy in England. “He’s been under the care of the high performance manager for the last few weeks and months. Even though we would like to see him return to playing 50-over cricket eventually, right now we are happy to see him return to bowling four overs in a [T20] match. He is a very important cricketer to us,” said Sumathipala.
Malinga’s inclusion in the playing XI will be dependent on his performance in a warm-up match which will be played in aid of Sri Lanka Cricket charity Cricket Aid.
Squad: Upul Tharanga (captain), Niroshan Dickwella, Asela Gunaratna, Dilshan Munaweera, Kusal Mendis, Milinda Siriwardena, Sachith Pathirana, Chamara Kapugedara, Seekkuge Prasanna, Nuwan Kulasekara, Isuru Udana, Dasun Shanaka, Lakshan Sandakan, Lasith Malinga and Vikum Sanjaya
Sri Lanka Cricket Chairman Thilanga Sumathipala yesterday denied leaked media reports that Sanath Jayasuriya had tendered his resignation from his post as Chairman of the National Selection Committee.
Sumathipala, speaking at a media briefing yesterday, was questioned on the reports, where he offered a response of bemusement and claimed he had not received any such letters from Jayasuriya.
According to the leaked reports, Jayasuriya is said to be unhappy at the fact that the Sri Lanka ‘A’ Team chosen by his selection committee for the England ‘A’ tour was changed without his approval, where national team players were said to have parachuted into the squad.
On Wednesday there was confusion at the pre-tour media briefing when the Sri Lanka ‘A’ captain failed to attend and only two members of the 20-man squad were confirmed for the tour. ‘A’ Team coach Avishka Gunawardena, when questioned as to why this was the case, put the unprecedented situation down to the fact that several members of the ‘A’ Team had been selected for the national side recently and that others were taking part in domestic competition.
Sri Lanka ‘A’ are due to take on England ‘A’ in the first unofficial Test on 17 February.
ESPNCricinfo: Sri Lanka trail 4-0, have not yet batted out 50 overs in the series, and continue to lack menace with the ball, but around Upul Tharanga’s sleek 119 at Newlands, a little hope has built.
The hope is not necessarily that Sri Lanka can prevent a whitewash - although that is their immediate concern. The larger expectation is that perhaps there are the makings of a competitive top order in this present unit. Niroshan Dickwella’s fifties through the course of the limited-overs matches have suggested he can play a strong role in Sri Lanka’s future short-format sides. The quality of Tharanga’s 14th hundred - his first since 2013 - has also led some to believe he is on the verge of a renaissance in his own game.
Despite this, South Africa have still been completely dominant, and have not really looked like losing at any point in the series. Faf du Plessis has been their batting lynchpin, with scores of 55 not out, 105 and a career-best 185. Imran Tahir has held the bowling together while the seamers rotate around him. Even after being cracked for 51 off his first five overs on Tuesday, Tahir took 2 for 25 in his second five, and helped clinch the match.
Around these two have been a cast of outstanding players who have taken each game by the collar at various moments and kept South Africa spikes on Sri Lanka throats. The top four have all scored half-centuries in the series. The bowlers have not been quite as consistent, but almost always recovered well from their bad spells.
AB de Villiers has said it publicly: South Africa will be disappointed with anything less than 5-0.
