Arafat Minhas made his ODI debut memorable by picking up five wickets – the first Pakistan bowler to do so in his maiden appearance in the format. His sensational 5 for 32 from ten overs orchestrated his side’s comprehensive five-wicket win over Australia in the first ODI at Rawalpindi.

The 21-year-old left-arm fingerspinner used his variations with great guile on a pitch that offered plenty of purchase to the spinners to bundle Australia for 200. Their run chase brought another youngster Ghazi Ghori , a wicketkeeper-batter, in the limelight as he stitched a sturdy 127-run stand with Babar Azam.

Time was when Sri Lanka used to produce captains who were admired across the world; leaders who were ahead of their time and commanded respect wherever the game was played. In the early years of the IPL, several Sri Lankans were entrusted with franchise captaincy roles and they handled those responsibilities with distinction.

In recent years, however, captains in this part of the world have often been appointed more on seniority than exceptional leadership qualities. The roots of the problem may well lie in school cricket itself. From Under-13 level onwards, you often see captains being shouted instructions ball-by-ball from the boundary line. Coaches are effectively captaining sides from the dressing room and that is hardly a healthy phenomenon.

The issue came into sharp focus recently when Sri Lanka Cricket acknowledged that measures need to be taken to educate school coaches. Sunday Island spoke to former Sri Lanka captain Anura Tennekoon, who had some fascinating views on the subject.

Tennekoon captained Sri Lanka in the 1975 and 1979 World Cups and is regarded as one of the finest batsmen produced by the country. He also served the game in several administrative capacities, functioning as selector, national team manager, Secretary of the Board and CEO of Sri Lanka Cricket.

“You can’t develop captains overnight. You have to let them take decisions, make mistakes and then learn from them. I have seen coaches sending down instructions after every ball from the boundary rope and it is extremely disappointing to watch. This is not how you develop leaders,” Tennekoon told Sunday Island.

“You have to monitor the system. Maybe you ask the umpires to keep an eye on things or appoint observers. Maybe you deduct points if it keeps happening after a warning. If it still continues, then you take drastic measures,” Tennekoon added.

The former captain felt the development of young leaders would be severely hindered if coaches continued to make most of the decisions from the dressing room.

“Coaches themselves are under pressure because if they don’t win games, their jobs are at stake. But preventing captains from developing is a very serious issue,” Tennekoon said.

“There were hardly any coaches during our time. There was only a master-in-charge who looked after discipline and coached us and gave advice when required. The captain handled all the planning and execution with some support from the vice-captain and senior players. Games were far more interesting because captains made bold declarations in pursuit of outright victories. You hardly see that anymore.”

“You need captains brave enough to take decisions. Even if you lose, that’s fine because captains learn valuable lessons from defeat. Today, the first instinct seems to be to secure a draw. Winning becomes secondary. The approach now is safety first and if an opportunity to win comes later, then perhaps you go for it.”

Tennekoon recalled a recent big match where one side was heavily favoured while the opposition were rank underdogs.

“But cricket is a funny game and things don’t always go according to script. The underdogs were on top and had a genuine chance to win. Yet they still settled for a draw because they wanted to play safe. If you play three-day cricket or even five-day cricket with that mindset, you are inevitably going to end up with dull draws. It feels as if losing a game is treated as the end of the world and that is rubbish,” he remarked.

“You should teach young cricketers to play with positive intent. If you approach cricket negatively, the game becomes boring. Neither the players nor the spectators will enjoy it. You should never kill the spirit of this great game.”

Sri Lanka Cricket’s current administration appears keen to address the issue. This week, the board invited all Division One and Division Two school coaches for a workshop conducted by Head Coach Garry Kirsten. More such sessions are expected to be held regularly.

“I am very happy with the appointment of Eran Wickramaratne to head cricket. He has a proven track record in many fields and is deeply passionate about the game. I am also pleased to see three former cricketers, who are respected globally, involved in the process. I am confident they will put structures in place that can deliver results.”

“We need to give them time and support them wholeheartedly if we want to see meaningful change,” Tennekoon concluded.

by Rex Clementine

Even before the public could fully grasp the reasons behind his removal as Chairman of Selectors, Pramodya Wickramasinghe was back in the headlines, armed with yet another batch of conspiracy theories, this time over Sri Lanka’s squad for the West Indies tour. Conspiracy theories, of course, are not exactly unfamiliar territory for the former medium pacer. And make no mistake, there will be plenty more down the road. But what Pramodya says these days needs to be taken not merely with a pinch of salt, but perhaps with the entire salt shaker.

For much of the last decade, Pramodya has hovered around selection committees, most often as chairman. He presided over Sri Lanka’s disastrous 2023 World Cup campaign in India and was promptly shown the door. Under Upul Tharanga, the team at least appeared to be moving in the right direction. Then, just as another World Cup loomed around the corner, Pramodya made a dramatic return to centre stage. What followed was absolute mayhem.

The captain was removed. Combinations were shuffled like a deck of cards at a casino. Communication was non-existent. And Sri Lanka ended up making a complete mockery of a World Cup campaign where, as co-hosts, they were expected to reach the semi-finals. Instead, the whole thing resembled a reality show with no script and too many directors.

Interestingly, while the current selection panel has largely retained the squads picked by Pramodya’s committee, they have appointed Kamindu Mendis as vice-captain, a move that actually makes cricketing sense, which in itself must feel refreshing to Sri Lankan fans.

Kamindu is among the few genuine all-format players Sri Lanka possess at present and grooming him gradually for leadership is sensible planning rather than throwing darts blindfolded and hoping one lands on the board.

Pramodya’s claim that they were grooming Dunith Wellalage for leadership ahead of the next World Cup fits neatly alongside several of his other selection decisions; baffling and difficult to explain with a straight face.

There is no doubt Dunith possesses leadership qualities and may well captain Sri Lanka one day. But there is one rather inconvenient detail. He is not yet a certainty in the playing eleven. Furthermore, the next World Cup will be played in South Africa, where conditions traditionally favour seam-bowling all-rounders rather than spin-bowling all-rounders. One wonders whether Wellalage will even make the final squad of 15 for those conditions. So much for long-term vision and cricketing acumen.

There was a time when respected former cricketers politely declined invitations to become selectors, understanding the role required restraint, balance and clarity of thought. Under the current administration, however, there appears to be renewed enthusiasm among stakeholders to genuinely rebuild the game and both Sri Lanka Cricket and the Sports Ministry deserve credit for bringing in a fresh selection panel.

The task ahead is hardly straightforward. Together with Head Coach Gary Kirsten, they now have the responsibility of dragging Sri Lankan cricket back onto the right track after years of confusion, inconsistency and self-inflicted wounds.

It is also encouraging to see respected cricketing minds like Kumar Sangakkara, Roshan Mahanama and Sidath Wettimuny coming together to help steer the game forward. Cheap shots from individuals like Pramodya, who, frankly, has been part of the problem rather than the solution, should not distract from the rebuilding process now underway.

by Rex Clementine