by Rex Clementine
at Pallekele

There’s a fair bit to be done for Sri Lanka to get back to their glory days in cricket, but you can safely say that the team has a taken huge strides to achieve that target. Yes, the drubbing by Pakistan at SSC and in Galle are still fresh in memories but Test cricket is one format where they have done reasonably well.

It is the white ball formats the team has struggled, playing multiple qualifying tournaments in the last three years across T-20s and ODIs. T-20 cricket has reached a safety zone, no doubt about it and the automatic qualification for next year’s tournament in the US and West Indies is proof for that.

ODI format is still a work in progress, but there are impressive signs. The team’s bowling is pretty formidable with both the quicks and spin departments bowling sides out with some impressive performances. If they make a genuine effort to fix the injury woes, that will be a massive relief. This Asia Cup, they are literally depending on their seconds string attack.

There were doubts how Matheesha Pathirana will go. He has pace sure, but accuracy was a question mark and there were doubts whether he will be as good as in the 50 over format as he was in the 20 overs game.

Was it the right decision to pick him over Pramod Madushan and Binura Fernando, some of us wondered? What an inspired decision it proved to be.

In his first spell, Matheesha accounted for the big wicket of Shakib-al-Hasan and then in the second spell claimed the wicket of Mushfiqur Rahim, the other experienced batter in the opposition line-up. Then the tail couldn’t handle his pace and his four-wicket haul gave Sri Lanka a much-needed win and fears of the team might not being able to make it to the second round were set aside.

Maheesh Theekshana was sensational as well making early inroads bowling with the new ball. His variations are confusing, and batters aren’t able to play him with confidence. Of course, there will be bigger challenges when they play India and Pakistan.

Then there’s Dhananjaya de Silva, a very underrated cricketer. You can always be assured of his ten overs for not many and he gives you the much-needed cover at number six. Why the selectors picked Kusal Mendis ahead of Dhananjaya as vice-captain is confusing indeed.

Mendis of course is on borrowed time. He’s been on borrowed time for quite some time now, but they seem to create roles for him to fit into the side. How much we can go on saying that he has got talent and that he is the future of the team needs to rest and other deserving players need to be looked at.

If Sadeera Samarawickrama had got half the chances that Mendis had got, he would have won us many more games. It remains to be seen if Kusal Perera is fit, whether the selectors will have the courage to axe Mendis. Of course, that will make the selectors look dumb. Not often do you drop your vice-captain from the side. However, they have done dumber things than this.

Sadeera first came into the scene in 2017 and should have gone onto become a permanent fixture. But once Graham Labrooy, who picked him finished his term, he was thrown in the cold store and successive selection panels didn’t even bother to try him out.

If a player’s work ethic and attitude doesn’t impress selectors or the team management, there is certainly something wrong in the system. That’s one reason why we have struggled so much.

How well Sadeera batted against Bangladesh after the top order had collapsed. His only blemish is that he plays too many attacking shots too early in the innings. Even on Thursday, he had an opportunity to prove his mettle by finishing off the game, but he threw away his wicket. He will learn.

However, Mendis, whether he will learn is a big question mark. So is Niroshan Dickwella. The opportunities these two have got, had we invested on some others, we would have made rapid progress. Better later than never.

Young batters putting up their hands and making it count has helped Sri Lanka to move forward in the right direction. Pathum Nissanka has already established himself and then there’s Charith Asalanka, who has played some match winning knocks under pressure. He didn’t carry a lot of form into the Asia Cup but the unbeaten 62 at Pallekele would have given him lot of confidence.

The unsung hero of Sri Lanka’s recent success is Kasun Rajitha. It’s a pity that even in these pages, we discuss him last. Often Rajitha ends up without taking a wicket but what the scorecard doesn’t say is that how many catches were dropped off him. Captain Dasun Shanaka put down one against Bangladesh and poor Rajitha continues to suffer.