New Delhi [India], May 14 (ANI): Sri Lanka’s national selector Upul Tharanga is still deciding how to balance his team for the upcoming T20 World Cup, but he feels fielding three spinners in the same XI is a viable option.
Sri Lanka also has a plethora of spinning options in its T20 World Cup team, including Dhananjaya de Silva, Kamindu Mendis, Charith Asalanka, and Dunith Wellalage, who can provide an extra option alongside skipper Wanindu Hasaranga and ace off-spinner Maheesh Theekshana.
Tharanga is still deciding how to balance his team for the T20 World Cup, but he feels fielding three spinners in the same XI is a viable option.
“There could be a chance that we play three spinners sometimes. Looking at that is why we picked Dunith (Wellalage), particularly his batting because sometimes we could go with him ahead of a fast-bowling all-rounder,” Tharanga said as quoted by ICC.
“As for Dhananjaya, we value his bowling. And about power-hitting, we think we can get that from elsewhere in the side. In terms of his all-round input, and taking into consideration the conditions, he was a better option,” he added.
Selectors are debating how to best balance their XI for the T20 World Cup, while the fitness of a crucial fast bowler is watched. Sri Lanka are hopeful that crucial bowler Matheesha Pathirana will be healthy for the start of next month’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup as the island country decides how many spinners to field in their XI.
Pathirana injured his hamstring while playing for the Chennai Super Kings in the present Indian Premier League and was sent back home to Sri Lanka to rehabilitate before the T20 World Cup begins on June 1.
The right arm was chosen as one of four quicks in Sri Lanka’s 15-player T20 World Cup team, along with Nuwan Thushara, Dilshan Madushanka, and Dushmantha Chameera, and is anticipated to play a key part in their quest for a second championship after winning in Bangladesh in 2014.
Sri Lanka’s national selector, Upul Tharanga, anticipates Pathirana to be healthy for their first T20 World Cup match against South Africa on June 3 in New York, and feels his team has enough firepower in their pace attack to threaten opponents.
“We have players to bowl at the death, but it’s in the Powerplay that we need to focus on picking up wickets. So for that, we have Madushanka and then as a travelling reserve, we have Asitha (Fernando),” Tharanga said.
“If we take our side, Thushara, Pathirana they can bowl in the death overs. But we needed someone that could come in if we needed a wicket-taking option with the new ball, which is why we went with Asitha (as a reserve over Binura Fernando),” he added.
With the ninth edition of the T20 World Cup co-hosted by the United States and the West Indies, Tharanga believes teams will encounter a range of pitches across nine different locations and would need to adjust swiftly during the tournament.
The former Sri Lanka skipper expects the wickets in the United States, in particular, to be slow and spin-friendly.
“If you look at the conditions in America and the West Indies, most of it is pointing towards the wickets there being quite slow. The Major League tournament was played in Dallas with drop-in pitches. If you look at those, even though they’re being brought down from Australia they are still quite uneven and a little slow. This could of course change, so it’s a little hard to predict,” Tharanga said.
Sri Lanka squad: Wanindu Hasaranga (c), Charith Asalanka, Kusal Mendis, Pathum Nissanka, Kamindu Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Angelo Mathews, Dasun Shanaka, Dhananjaya De Silva, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Dushmantha Chameera, Nuwan Thushara, Matheesha Pathirana and Dilshan Madushanka.
Travelling Reserves: Asitha Fernando, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Janith Liyanage. (ANI)
