Rally around Dinesh and his boys: Sanath
View(s):Spurred by their Asia Cup victory, the Lankan national cricketers leave for Bangladesh once again today, looking to cut another niche that has eluded them thus far. If their current form and attitude within the boundary line are true, they should still be there in Bangladesh on April 6 when the final of the ICC T-20 World Championship takes place.
In 2009 and 2012, they surrendered in the final to their opponents Pakistan and West Indies respectively. However, on this occasion, their one-and-a-half month acclimatisation in Bangladesh and the knowledge on how the wickets fare along with the Asia Cup win hype should hold them in good stead.
Flanked by thousands of fanatic fans the Lankan national team coming home from Bangladesh with the Asia Cup which they won beating defending champions Pakistan in the final. Now the question lies if they would make their trip back to that country to take part in the ICC T-20 World Championships. - AFP
Chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya came out with one passionate plea. He asks Lankan cricket followers to dispel all negatives against T-20 skipper Dinesh Chandimal and rally around him and the Lankan cricketers so that they could achieve their desired goal with a fitting performance.
“We are aware of his problems and we left him out for two games during the Asia Cup and went with Ashan Priyanjan. At the same time T-20 is a different game and Chandimal has fared well as the captain of this outfit and he has the utmost support from his deputy Lasith Malinga,” Jayasuriya told a news conference on Friday.
He also said that with the amount of cricket being played in Bangladesh in the recent past, the wickets are bound to get slower and lower. Fittingly, Sri Lanka has an array of spinners who could exploit the conditions out there.
Besides, he says that the Lankans also have the slow seam operators who also could be useful there. “Our style has been stifling the opposition in the middle overs and limiting them to a manageable score or preventing them from reaching the total that we have managed to put on board.”
For this task, Rangana Herath, Ajantha Mendis and Sachitra Senanayake have proved their worth. Besides them, Sri Lanka also could get a few good off-spin overs from T.M. Dilshan. By chance if Dilshan proves unfit during Wednesday’s practice match against the West Indies, left arm spinning allrounder Chathuranga de Silva will take his place.
Slinger Malinga – the vice captain of the Lankan contingent making a rare appearance before the press — said he himself was not satisfied with his rhythm at present. He said that though he had two fifers during the Asia Cup tournament, he was still a long way off from his best.
Yet, he added: “As bowlers each of us knows our role. However, there is a big difference between the 50-overs game and the T-20s. In the T-20s, you get only four overs and there you have to get everything right. If not, a bad over or two could make the difference of the match”. He capped it by stating that he was still sorry that he was largely responsible for Sri Lankas loss at the 2012 T-20 final. “I did not bowl well in that match, he said apologetically.
Skipper Dinesh Chandimal’s parting words were: “The team is gelling well as a unit and the Asia Cup win has given a lot of impetus to us. So we are hoping to build on that platform”.
Sri Lanka is the number-one ranked side with 129 ratings points. Only eight ratings points separate the top four sides, with India (123 points), South Africa (123 points) and Pakistan (121 points). – SRP