Sports
Fielding takes center stage as new selection panel takes charge
by Rex Clementine
The national cricket team’s poor fielding standards became a focal point as the new selection panel headed by former captain Upul Tharanga took charge yesterday, introducing their selection policies after three years of mediocracy for Sri Lankan cricket.
Tharanga’s predecessors guarded selection policies like state secrets and didn’t attend even a single media briefing during their disastrous tenure. They were masters of backdoor moves and were answerable to no one. The new panel promised to be transparent after a testing period for the national cricket team.
Tharanga explained that his policy is to work with seniors while encouraging young talent and highlighted several areas that needed to be addressed. He put down his long-term goal as the 2027 World Cup while short term goal as the upcoming T-20 World Cup in the US and West Indies. Into the bargain, there is a three match Test series as well in England.
“Our fielding has been a letdown. Modern day cricket is very challenging and for 50 overs cricket, your fitness levels have to be up there. We are discussing with High Performance Center (HPC) as to how we can keep the intensity levels high. I am sure HPC will make the necessary changes,” Chairman of the new panel Upul Tharanga told journalists.
Former opening batsman Tharanga Paranavithana, veteran First Class cricketer Indika de Saram and former spinners Ajantha Mendis and Dilruwan Perera form the new selection panel along with Tharanga.
Another area that Tharanga highlighted was that wickets prepared for domestic cricket seemed to be well below par. Throughout the domestic tournament in recent years there have been some low scoring games.
“The wickets we get in domestic cricket aren’t ideal as when you go overseas for international games, usually white ball cricket, you get flat wickets. We need to address this issue urgently. We have discussed a method whereby we will have five national curators who will monitor the wickets from next season on.
Tharanga insisted that indiscipline will not be tolerated among players. Poor behaviour is rampant among Sri Lankan players and often they get away with slaps on the wrist.
Less than a week after being appointed captain of the ODI team, Kusal Mendis was in the news as he had smashed the dressing room door of Bloomfield ground after being dismissed for a duck and then later had allegedly scolded the club manager in filth.
Tharanga said that Sri Lanka Cricket had asked Sinhalese Sports Club to look into the matter and an inquiry is on.
Virat Kohli has communicated his desire to retire from Test cricket to the BCCI ahead of the big five-match series in England starting June 20, for which he is expected to be a part of the squad. ESPNcricinfo understands that Kohli has been having these conversations with officials of the BCCI for the past month or so.
If Kohli doesn’t change his mind, he will bring the curtain down on a glorious career that has spanned 14 years and included 123 Tests – 68 of them as captain – in which he has 9230 runs at an average of 46.85.
But it hasn’t been a particularly fruitful time in the format for Kohli of late. When he scored 100 not out in the Perth Test in November 2024, it was his first century in Tests since July 2023 (against West Indies in Port of Spain), and his average, 55.10 at its peak after he scored his career best of 254 not out vs South Africa in Pune in 2019, has been 32.56 over the last 24 months.
(Cricinfo)
The remainder of PSL 2025 has been postponed indefinitely. The PCB cited the “worsening of the situation” at the Pakistan-India border as the reason, saying the board had acted on advice from the Pakistan prime minister Shahbaz Sharif.
The board said it had “sincere regard for the mental well-being of participating players and the sentiments of our foreign players, and we respect the concerns of their families who want to see them back home” and that was considered when making the decision.
The development came less than 24 hours after the PCB had announced that the remaining eight games of the PSL would be played in the UAE, without specifying the dates or the venues, with the expectation that it would take about a week to resume.
Overseas players as well as Pakistani players who currently hold visas to the UAE were scheduled to leave on Friday night, with the remaining visas being applied for over the weekend. That, however, has changed, and the teams have begun disbanding with immediate effect, with travel back home being arranged for foreign players.
There is no word yet on when, or if, the remaining games will be played. The postponement came hours after the IPL was temporarily suspended owing to the tensions between the two countries.
The PSL held an emergency meeting in Islamabad on Thursday, and involved the PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi meeting with foreign players, who overwhelmingly expressed a desire to relocate the league to the UAE.
“The PCB recognises the efforts and support of its partners, franchises, participating players, broadcasters, sponsors, and organisers in having ensured the smooth conduct of the tournament thus far, however; cricket while being a unifying force and a source of joy, must take a respectful pause…” the PCB statement said.
[Cricinfo]
World Relays 2025
A ‘full strength Sri Lanka 4×400 metres mixed relay team’ will compete against formidable European powerhouses when they take part in the first heat of the relay on day one of the World Relays in Guangzhou, China on Saturday.
“We will field our best four for the heats,” said W.M.G. Thushara, the mamager cum coach of the Sri Lanka team in an interview with The Island after reaching Guangzhou yesterday.
There is one junior athlete in the six member team but Sri Lankan authorities have decided to field the full strength team in the heats.
“It will be Nadeesha Ramanayake, Nishendra Fernando, Kalinga Kumarage and Aruna Dharshana as we are planning to produce our best performace,” Thushara said.
Ramanayake, Kumarage and Dharshana were part of the team that established a new national record in the mixed relay at the Asian Athletics Championship in 2023. Only missing member from that team is Tharushi Karunaratne.
Sri Lanka team will compete in the first heat where Switzerland, France, Belgium, Germany and hosts China are the others. The first two from the heats will directly qualify for the World Relays and also the World Championships to be held in Tokyo.
Sri Lanka fielded only the mixed relay team for the World Relays despite the men’s 4×400 team qualifying for the event. The World Relays starting today is the main qualifying competition for relay events at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25.
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