Ticket to London!

Selecting a squad of 15 players is a thankless job in cricket. There are multi-million cricket fanatics in this small island of Sri Lanka wearing their own selection hats. As a bona fide cricket fan, I am no different. So, let’s throw in some “armchair” critiques at the squad already selected. 

Source: https://www.cricketworldcup.com/teams/sri-lanka

Right off the bat, you would start arguing whether Dimuth deserves to be the captain of this side. He has not played a single one day international since the last world cup and his List A numbers are good at best. But is there anyone else to captain this side at the moment? Well, not really.  So, he becomes the captain on the basis of having no other viable option.

Let’s look at the squad under 3 categories,
- Obvious picks
- Iffy choices
- Might have beens

Obvious Picks

With our abysmal form over the last two years in limited overs cricket, unsurprisingly, hardly anyone really picks himself. If you talk in relative terms, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera fall into the category of “relatively” obvious picks. And the two Kusals are not far off either. Dhananjaya de Silva has been a relatively regular presence in the one-day team and Isuru Udana has had some good performances albeit with the bat over the last few months.

Iffy Choices 

There are plenty in this category – Dimuth Karunaratne, Avishka Fernando, Milinda Siriwardana, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Jeevan Mendis, Lahiru Thirimanne and Jeffrey Vandersay.

Dimuth Karunaratne, Milinda Siriwardana, Suranga Lakmal, Jeevan Mendis, Lahiru Thirimanne and Jeffrey Vandersay have not played ODI cricket literally for ages. Avishka Fernando just turned 21 and has only played 5 games so far. Nuwan Pradeep has only played 34 ODIs in nearly 7 years at international level.

It is clear that the selectors considered the performances of the recently concluded inter-provincial tournament as the main yardstick for selections/non-selections. Dimuth, Avishka, Milinda, Jeevan and Thirimanne all had very good outings in the inter-provincial tournament. Fast bowlers are like gold dust in Sri Lanka – so the selectors have gone with the tried and tested duo of Pradeep and Lakmal. Wrist-spin is the trend these days in limited overs cricket – so the selection of Vandersay.

Might Have Beens

So, these are the guys who missed the flight to England and Wales. This includes a heap of regular Sri Lanka internationals and a bunch of consistent domestic performers.

Firstly, let’s see what the composition of the squad should be. Ideally, you need 8 batsmen (including a wicket keeper and a couple of batsmen who could give you a few overs with the ball), 6 bowlers (4 fast bowlers and 2 spinners with a couple of them who could wheel the willow) and a genuine all-rounder. One could argue that there should be a back-up for the all-rounder, but I believe when you are only allowed 15 players (not 16), you should only have 1 genuine all-rounder unless your all-rounder is world-class and should not be replaced in the middle of the tournament if he is only going to be injured or unavailable for a few games. So, let’s see how all this stacks up (in black font),

Note – Batting roles have been less of a certainty over the last couple of years, so the most common positions were considered when preparing this table.

Let’s try to fill the remainder (in red font),

Opening batsmen – Assuming KJP would open the batting, we need a partner for him and a back-up (DDS could possibly double up as the back-up opener as he is an opener by trait and he does not have a cemented role at the moment in the side, but he will be more valuable down the order given the scarcity of lower order batsmen). Dimuth K is an obvious choice – he is an old-fashioned opener but there is more than a case for his inclusion; SL has tried attacking openers in the past but in the last several games, they have been 80/4 far too often, Dimuth K has improved quite a bit as a limited overs cricketer, is in good form and he ticks the captaincy box as well. Avishka F has shown promise at a very young age and he could provide that x factor as well. Given the other options (or the lack of it as Dickwella and Gunathilake have failed miserably and Upul T is well beyond his prime), Avishka seems to be a good option and him being a right hander helps given the plethora of lefties around him.

Middle order batsmen – Kusal M has been up and down, but he has shown enough promise and just about enough runs to make the cut. If he bats at 4, I would select Thiri to come in one down. He was unfairly dropped from the one-day team for his woes at test level and definitely deserves a long run in the team. Dinesh Chandimal has unfortunately not done enough to topple these two.

Lower order batsmen – In Mathews, Sri Lanka have their most consistent ODI batsman at No. 5. DDS is a decent choice at 6 but he has not really cemented his slot. So, I would pick the extra batsman keeping No.6 in mind knowing that he might well get the opportunity ahead of DDS. So, what are the options? Ideally, you need someone who could double up as the 6th bowling option. Kamidu Mendis and Angelo Perara both fit that role and they have been knocking on the door (or has already played a handful of games) over the last couple of years. Milinda Siriwardene and Jeevan Mendis have made a strong case for themselves with their recent performances in the provincial tournament and domestic list A cricket. Sachithra Senanayake with his much-improved batting (leading scorer in the Premier Limited Overs Tournament), Bhanuka Rajapaksha and Sachithra Serasinghe are possible wild cards. Dasun Shanaka might be another option but he needs a bit of work on all 3 departments before being considered. I would personally pick Angelo Perara for his consistency over the years in the middle and lower order (averaging over 41 with a strike rate in the mid-nineties) although he does not bowl as much as he used to, he is still a handy option for the 6th bowler if required.

Allrounder – Thisara Perera has been Sri Lanka’s best one day player for the last 12 to 15 months. He literally walks into the side unanimously.

Fast bowlers – Who should accompany Malinga and Udana? It would be hard to pick fast bowlers purely based on numbers as historically numbers have not been on the side of Sri Lankan fast bowlers given the surfaces they bowl on. So, based on what each one brings to the table, I will pick Suranga Lakmal and then it is a five-way battle for the remaining spot between Kasun Rajitha, Vishwa Fernando, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara and Nuwan Pradeep. Given what we have seen in the recent past and injuries, I would short list Kasun Rajitha and Vishwa Fernando and Vishwa would get the nod as he gives that left arm angle.

Spin bowlers – This is a tricky one. Akila Dananjaya was Sri Lanka’s go-to bowler before he was called for throwing. Since his return with a remodeled action, he has not been as effective. Sandakan has been very loose, bowling far too many half trackers and full bungers. But I will still pick Akila Dananjaya given his performances over the last couple of years be it with a different action. There is no stand-out performer knocking the door down – so it could really be anybody. I will keep Sandakan in the team for the variety he brings to the mix.

So, let’s wrap this up with the first choice eleven then – Dimuth Karunaratne (C), Kusal Perara (WK), Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Angelo Perera, Thisara Perera, Akila Dananjaya, Isuru Udana, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga