Former Selectors deserve credit for unearthing Kusal Mendis

The 21 year old batting sensational Kusal Mendis is the talking point of Sri Lankan cricket right now. After very impressive performances against Australia in the first two test matches of Warne – Murali trophy, the whole cricketing world has started to talk about him. Even Australian former and current cricketers, who don’t usually appreciate Sri Lankan cricketers for some reason, have appreciated very much about his batting talents. Some of the former players, journalists and others who are involved with cricket field have started to compare him with Sri Lankan cricket legends like Aravinda de Silva, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. Even though, it is too early to compare him with these cricketing legends who have been the greatest cricketers produced by Sri Lanka, they all have a good point.

In both tests against Australia in this tour, Kusal Mendis was the only stand out performer with the bat from both teams. Specially, the match wining knock he played in the first test match at Pallekele where he scored 176 runs after Sri Lanka were 2 down for just 6 runs with 80 odd runs behind Australia, can be considered as one of the best innings ever played by a Sri Lankan cricketer. During that test, all the other players from both teams struggled to score runs. Only Steve Smith could score a half century apart from Kusal Mendis magical innings. At 21, He showed no fear to face one of the best fast bowlers going around Mitchel Starc for the first time in his career and built the innings like a well matured player.

However, inclusion of Kusal Mendis to the national team for the first time raised eye brows of many as he was so young and immature as a cricketer to represent Sri Lanka. Lot of people questioned his selection because by the time he had played only 11 first class matches with a batting average of mere 30. Compared to him, there were lot of domestic players who had averages around 40s and 50s in domestic cricket and some of them were in tremendous form, but thanks to one person, player like Kusal Mendis could come to the national team at the right time. He was the former chief selector Kapila Wijegunawardene who gave Kusal Mendis the opportunity to make his debut against West Indies in last year at P. Sara Oval. Former chief selector was so confident that this guy got the capability to play at the big stage. His decision helped to unearth a unique talent for Sri Lanka and the rest has become history now. He has now played 8 test matches so far for Sri Lanka and scored 616 runs at an average of 41.06 and also represented Sri Lanka in 7 one day internationals where he scored 228 runs at an average of 32.57.

Without having lot of experience in domestic and international level, Kusal Mendis showed the world what he is made of. He represented Sri Lanka under 19 team which departed to United Arab Emirates to play the under 19 world cup in 2014 and captained the team as well. He was a run machine at school level representing Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa. However, in domestic cricket his records are not that great. I wonder any other selector at that stage would pick Kusal Mendis to the national team with those mere records. Most selectors look at player past records and pick them rather than selecting them on their potential. Therefore, some credit should be given to former chief selector Kapila Wijegunawardene for unearthing a batting sensational like Kusal Mendis.

Dilshan to bat down the order?

It is said that T.M. Dilshan who was not in the squad for England series will be expected to be part of the limited over leg of Australia series. In England, Danushka Gunatilake played Dilshan’s role as the opening batsman, fifth bowler and the backward point fielder. Danushka Gunatilaka played well there to retain his place for the upcoming Australia series as well. But with Dilshan coming in to the side means selectors have decisions to be made. In England, Danushka scored 142 runs with an average of 28.40 and captured 4 wickets with his off spin. Under these circumstances, it is questionable that where Dilshan bats in the playing XI. Since Sri Lanka team is looking to build up a formidable line up for 2019 cricket world cup in England, giving more opportunities for young players like Danushka Gunatilake and Kusal Janith at the top of the order is a worthy investment. Dilshan will not be in Sri Lanka team for 2019 cricket world cup and therefore, the best possible option is Dilshan batting down the order.

It was clearly seen that Sri Lanka needed a more powerful striker to bat at number 6 in England. Even Upul Tharanga scored some runs there; he struggled to clear the boundaries at the end. I think number 6 in one day cricket has become very vital position and team need good strikers who can score runs quickly. Therefore, I think naturally aggressive batsman like Dilshan is very well suited for that position. It will bring more solidity to middle order with his experience and good for the future of the team as well.

Which Silva will make it on 26th?

First test of the Warne – Murali trophy is going to start on 26^th July at Pallekele. Even though, the Sri Lanka bowling attack looks problematic with the injuries to its main bowlers, Sri Lanka batting line up was improving in every test they played in England. In the first test at Headingly, they could only manage to score 91 and 19 in the two innings respectively. In the second test at Chester-le-street, Sri Lanka was bowled out for mere 101 in the first innings, but scored 475 in the second innings. At Lords in the third and final test, they scored 288 in the first innings and 78 for 1 in the second innings. Players like Kaushal Silva, Kusal Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal were quite impressive in those tests. Kaushal Silva scored 193 runs in the three test series with an average of 32.16 and had to face the new ball challenge of James Anderson and Stuart Board which was a very tough job as a sub-continent batsman in their own backyard. Dinesh Chandimal had a wonderful England series including one day internationals as well. He scored 172 runs in three tests with an average of 34.40. Kusal Mendis, the find of the tournament for Sri Lanka had a great outing there with 156 runs in three tests with an average of 31.20. As a youngster, playing his first series in England, his achievements were quite remarkable.

Sri Lanka would not change their opening combination Dimuth Karunarathne and Kaushal Silva for the Australia tests as they have been doing a good job as openers in recent times. Even though, Dimuth Karunarathne had a moderate England tour where he only managed to score 129 runs in three tests with an average of 25.80, his improvement in last two years have been significant. Number 3, 4 and 5 slots will be occupied by Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews respectively as usual. Since Kusal Janith has been playing his aggressive role pretty well as the number 7 batsman in the test side, he would keep his position for this tour as well. His comeback innings after the ban at Lords was impressive as he scored 42 runs in his first international assignment after six months. However, the only worry Sri Lanka possess with its batting line up is number 6. Selectors used Milinda Siriwardene for that position in India and Pakistan test series, but didn’t have faith in him for England tests and dropped him for the first test of this Australia series as well.

Number 6 is a vital position in a test team where most of the international teams prefer an all-rounder for the position. For an example, Australia uses Mitchell Marsh and England uses Ben Stokes for that position. With this thought in mind, selectors used few all-rounders in the three day practice match against Australians. Milinda Siriwardene, Shehan Jayasooriya, Dasun Shanaka, Asela Gunarathne and Chathuranga de Silva were those players. Since no one showed a significant performance, selectors have gone to Sri Lanka A player Dananjaya de Silva. He has played 47 first class matches with a batting average of 36.60 while his bowling average is 22.82. However, if Sri Lanka considers a more solid batsman rather than an all-rounder for the middle order Roshen Silva is the ideal player. Roshen Silva has so far played 87 first class matches with an average of 50.58. He has been in domestic scene for a while and considered as an ideal test batsman. Since Angelo Mathews has been struggling with an injury, he might not bowl and Sri Lanka desperately needs someone to support their four specialist bowlers. In that case Dananjaya de Silva has the advantage over Roshen Silva. Under these circumstances, it is interesting to see which Silva will make it on 26^th at Pallekele.  

Sri Lanka Tour of New Zealand

          Challenge of New Zealand will test Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka had a very good test and one day series against West Indies after having two consecutive test series defeats against Pakistan and India. West Indies series wasn’t a difficult series for Sri Lanka because West Indians have their own issues to solve and not the best side on earth. However it will give Sri Lanka the well needed confidence booster to face Kiwis assignment next in December. New Zealand series is going to be the real challenge for Sri Lanka. They don’t have good memories of last New Zealand tour which was concluded only a year ago. They lost the two match test series 0 – 2 and lost the seven match one day series 2 - 4. We had Sanga for both tests and one day matches and Mahela for one day matches. Even with those players, Sri Lanka couldn’t make any impact there.

It is more to do with conditions where Sri Lankans are not used to play. There are extra bounce on the wickets, swinging and seaming bowling as well as cool weather conditions that make life difficult to Sri Lankans. But Sri Lankans have to be up for this challenge. Experience players like Mathews and Herath will have a big role to play there. Our fast bowling department has been quite impressive over the last one and half years. Dammika Prasad, Nuwan Pradeep and Suranga Lakmal have been consistent and very impressive. The new inclusion, the 22 year Dushmantha Chameera is a real talent as par as face bowling is concerned. He can touch the 140s quite regularly and a rare talent we should manage well. He can be a match winner in the future. They all will have very friendly conditions in New Zealand where they would love to bowl in than in Sri Lanka.

On the other hand, New Zealand team has been in tremendous form over the last two years and has become a strong opposition to any team in the world. New Zealand pace attack includes dangerous duo Tim Southee and Trent Boult. They have been consistent performers for Kiwis. In addition to that Matt Henry, Doug Bracewell, Neil Wagner and Adam Milne are very good fast bowlers in Kiwis armory. They will be more difficult to deal in their own conditions where assisted with more pace and swinging conditions. The batters like Kane Williamson (the run machine for New Zealand), Ross Taylor and BJ Watling have been scoring very heavily for them. Under the captaincy of Brendon Mccullum, they continue their winning streak.

New look Sri Lanka side is going to face these challenges and tested highly. On the other hand, Kiwi assignment is good for them because they can measure their skills and show the world what they are really made of. Two new faces for test arena Udara Jayasundera and Jefry Vandersy have been included in test squad for Sri Lanka. Udara Jayasundera is in great form after having completed a very good tour against New Zealand A team where he notched up 165 runs in two tests with an average of 41.25. He also scored 142 runs against West Indians in a warm up game in Colombo. The 25 year old Jeffrey Vandersay is also amongst the wickets. He had a very good tour for Sri Lanka A against New Zealand A where he got 12 wickets in two test matches on seamer friendly wickets. They also have a big task on their hands. Altogether this new look Sri Lankan side has a big challenge ahead in New Zealand. They weren’t really tested during the West Indies tour in their own backyard. But Kiwis will test them up for sure.

Should domestic structure be changed in Sri Lanka?

A Lot of discussions are being made about the current domestic cricket structure. Cricket authorities and former players are very much vocal about this and eager to see a new structure. Why should it be changed?

The main issue with the current system is the lack of quality. There are plenty of players playing in Sri Lanka for their respective clubs, but the real quality is lacking. There was a time where entering to Sri Lanka national side was quite a difficult task due to the huge competition. But today, almost every game we see new faces coming up to the team. Entering to the team should be made difficult for the players. It needs to create a huge competition among players and make players working hard to play for the national side. That is why an extra layer should be introduced like a provincial setup after the club set up where the country’s best 75 – 100 players are playing each other to enter national side. Then we will see the real quality and much improved players playing for the national side. Another thing is that, quality should be made in terms of financial aspect as well. There should be a high motivation for domestic players for playing cricket. Therefore they should be paid highly. Since we are talking about a club tournament followed by a provincial tournament, the remuneration difference should be made visible. Then the players will be motivated to jump to the next level. It will help them to improve as players as well.

Cricket pitches in Sri Lanka are not healthy for a player to develop. For an example batsmen are not tested in these pitches since they are provided very friendly wickets. Some batsmen score double hundreds in one day in a three day game. Spinners have no issue of playing in Sri Lanka, but the fast bowlers are suffered. Fast bowlers don’t bowl longer spells in match conditions. Captains take them away from the attack straight away after bowling 3 or 4 overs. If the pitches are made as even wickets which are helpful for batsmen and bowlers both, the quality that we are talking would be seen. Leaving bit of grass on wickets will motivate fast bowlers and improve them a lot. Then they can bowl more overs in a day and their bodies will be get used for that sort of spells. It is quite evident that our fast bowlers are getting injured more frequently. It is due to the fact that they are not used to bowl longer spells in match conditions. We have seen some impressive fast bowlers coming through and disappeared suddenly. When asking about why they are not playing, the answer comes as saying they are injured. So it is Important to help batsmen as well as bowlers by providing better wickets.

Authorities should take a step to play the national cricketers in these domestic tournaments as much as possible. Because something that is familiar with Sri Lanka Cricket is that, whenever a domestic tournament is played on, the best players who represent national side are playing in overseas tournaments such as IPL, county cricket, big bash etc. This is not good for our younger cricketers. They should play with these players and learn to play high standard cricket. They will gain so much experience when the national side players do play these tournaments. If not, the quality we expect will not be featured in these tournaments. Quantity wise Sri Lanka is blessed with so many cricket players with talent since the most popular sport in Sri Lanka has been cricket. But to compete against top quality sides in international cricket, we need to develop quality players with good temperament. That is why likes of Mahela, Sanga and Aravinda do raise their voice to change the domestic structure. Yes, it needs to change sooner rather than later.