Sports
Cracking the Avishka Fernando code
by Rex Clementine
Cabinet Minister Bandula Gunawaradene once said that Rs. 2500 is sufficient for a person to live a month. The argument did not go down well with the public. This is what happens when successful tuition masters try their hand in guiding the national economy. On the same note, it is a tricky subject for not so successful cricket writers to give suggestions on how the national cricket team should function. Nevertheless, it is good to be an armchair critic once in a while as long as you don’t get your calculations totally wrong like Bandula sir.
So, we have been sold this theory that Avishka Fernando has a chink in his armour opening the innings and that he is better off playing at number four. With gents like Mickey Arthur and Mahela Jayawardene being the theorists, the press took the bait, hook, line and sinker. Well, the two gents were asked to explain their theories. They played their cards close to their chests. Apparently, they did not want to let the cat out of the bag. Fair enough.
The closest it came to was that during Power Plays with field restrictions on and the inner circle cramped, Avishka struggled to find the gap and rotate the strike.
Some did not buy into that theory. Jaffna Kings, Avishka’s franchise owners certainty didn’t. They batted him at his usual position and the Moratuwaite came up with a stunning display hitting five consecutive sixes in an over this week. The bowler at the receiving end was T.M. Sampath, the younger brother of former captain T.M. Dilshan.
Avishka has always batted top of the order. He is so exciting to watch and there’s little doubt that he’s Aravinda’s heir given the time he has got to play his strokes and the natural flair. If it is true that why Sri Lanka wanted him to go down the order was because he was struggling to rotate the strike when field restrictions were on, it is defensive thinking, some could argue. We are a nation that got hold of not just one opener but two of them and told them to go helter-skelter upsetting the bowlers’ rhythm. Why can we not do the same with Avishka? Fair question.
You can not criticize Avishka’s demotion altogether for that tactic allowed Pathum Nissanka to move up the order and how well he has performed there. Sri Lanka were desperately searching for someone to bat through the 20 overs, often getting bowled out without utilizing their quota of 20 overs. Pathum has solved that problem. He plays the anchor role so well and occasionally brings up Steve Smith like strokes that you can only sit back and marvel.
Over the years, in Sri Lankan cricket we have converted some of our finest talents as opening batsmen. They have all done terrific jobs top of the order. But to get an opening batsman to bat at in the middle order is almost unheard of. Also the theory that Avishka is fine to open batting in ODIs but not in T-20s doesn’t add up. One of Dav Whatmore’s theories was that your best players needed to ‘consume the larger amount of overs’ when it came to white ball cricket.
There’s some fault in Avishka too. He was going to make his Test debut early this year against England in Galle but was sent home having failed a fitness test. Apparently the Sri Lankan team manager at that time, former fast bowler Ashantha de Mel, had lower skinfolds than Avishka! A little bit of discipline, common sense and interest in what you are supposed to do can take you places. On the other hand, lack of intent will see your talent going down the drain and if you are not disciplined you have so much to lose.
Mickey Arthur’s fitness regime needs to be commended. No Sri Lankan coach has stressed on fitness as much as Mickey and his theory of ‘my way or the highway’ worked wonders. Mickey after all was someone who sacked Mitchell Johnson of all people for failing to do his ‘homework’. Taking on Avishka would have been child’s play for him. There is only one language that some players understand.
Coming back to the question whether Avishka should open or bat at four, it is an interesting debate. People like Mickey, who has coached four international teams and Mahela, who has turned everything he touched in coaching into gold need to be given the benefit of the doubt. But then, they taught us at school that only the Pope is infallible. Maybe MJ too when it comes to cricket.
North Korea has held the Pyongyang International Marathon for the first time in six years, welcoming some 200 foreign runners to the streets of the reclusive country’s capital.
The marathon, which was launched in 1981, took place annually in April to celebrate the birth of its founding leader Kim Il Sung.
Before Sunday’s marathon, the race was last held in 2019, wherein 950 foreigners participated. North Korea sealed itself off the following year, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
North Korea has been slow to reopen since, allowing only Russian tourists into its capital since last year.
Runners have had to enter the country as part of an organised tour group, as was the case before the pandemic.
Koryo Tours, a Beijing-based travel agency listed as an “exclusive partner” on the event website, offers six-day marathon tours at 2,195 euros ($2,406) including flights to and from Beijing.
“The Pyongyang Marathon is an extremely unique experience as it provides an opportunity to interact with locals,” the agency wrote on its website.
Sunday’s marathon route took participants past landmarks across the city, including the Kim Il Sung stadium, the Arch of Triumph built to commemorate Kim Il Sung’s role in resisting Japanese rule, and the Mirae Future Scientists’ Street said to be a residential district for scientists and engineers.
Pictures online show the stadium – where runners start and finish their race – filled with spectators, many of them cheering and waving gold-coloured paper flags.
Pak Kum Dong, a North Korean runner, told Reuters news agency: “The eyes of our people on me helped me to bear the difficulties whenever I feel tired.”
There is no publicly available information on race results.
North Korea had only statred to scale back Covid-19 restrictions in the middle of 2023.
In Feburary, it allowed some Western tourists into the remote, eastern city Rason, but suspended those tours just weeks after.
[BBC]
Noor Ahmad, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) left-arm wristspinner, continues to head the Purple Cap table with ten wickets from four games. His spell of 4 for 18 in CSK’s first game against MI, remains his best so far.
DC’s Mitchell Starc who picked up his maiden five-for in T20s, against SRH remains second on the list with nine wickets in three games.
GT’s Mohammed Siraj equalled Starc’s tally on Sunday night with his own IPL best, albeit he has played four games to Starc’s three. Siraj picked up 4 for 17 against SRH to hand them their four successive loss, and was named the Player of the Match.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) suffered another batting malfunction, this time on a slow, black-soil surface at home, crashing to their fourth successive defeat in IPL 2025. Having lost Travishek in the powerplay, SRH waited until the 13th over to see the first six of the innings, and managed only one more after that Mohammad Siraj caused irreparable damage right from the start, ending with his career-best IPL figures of 4 for 17.
Pat Cummins’ cameo (22* off nine balls) and then his dismissal of Jos Buttler for a duck in Gujarat Titans’ (GT) chase of 153 gave SRH some hope, but that faded away once Washington Sundar clattered 23 off nine balls in the powerplay. Earlier in the day, GT didn’t need Washington with the ball, but his attacking enterprise at No. 4 settled their chase on a slow pitch. Washington fell agonisingly short of a maiden IPL half-century, but his captain Shubman Gill ushered GT home, with an unbeaten 61 off 43 balls, along with Sherfane Rutherford.
Siraj had sparked the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to life when he gave Travis Head a send-off in Adelaide last December. Four months on, Siraj was bowling to Head for the first time in T20s, and the battle lasted just five balls. After Head scored two fours off Siraj, the fast bowler struck with his trademark wobble-seam delivery, having him chip a catch to midwicket for 8.
Abhishek Sharma hit four fours before Siraj had him miscuing a catch to mid-on in his third over of the powerplay. It was Siraj’s 100th wicket in the IPL and sixth in the powerplay, the most by a bowler in that phase so far this season, with an economy rate of 6.27.
Siraj then returned in the death to york both Aniket Verma, the last recognised batter for SRH, and Simarjeet Singh, their Impact Player.
With both Head and Abhishek gone early,Rashid Khan, who was coming into this game on the back of figures of 4-0-54-0, could afford to ease himself in. He started fairly well by giving away just 10 runs in his first two overs, but when he erred in length, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Heinrich Klassen dispatched him to the fence. Rashid finished with 4-0-31-0, going wicketless for a third successive game, and with tournament figures of 1 for 143 in 14 overs at an economy rate of 10.21
Left-arm fingerspinner Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, on the other hand, showed remarkable control over his length and variations. He claimed the big wicket of Klaasen by knocking him over with a quick dart, which skidded off the pitch, for 27 off 19 balls. Sai Kishore also had Reddy holing out for 31 off 34 balls and finished with 4-0-24-2.
That SRH passed 150 was down to Cummins’ late blows. He was the only SRH batter in the top eight to have a strike rate of over 160.
It appeared like GT had handed a franchise debut to Washington to primarily match his offspin up with SRH’s left-hander heavy top order. But with Siraj dominating the powerplay and Sai Kishore taking care of the middle overs, GT ended up not using his offspin.
Washington then walked out to bat at No. 4 after his childhood friend B Sai Sudarshan and Buttler fell cheaply in successive overs. Washington took advantage of the last over of the powerplay, smoking Simarjeet for two sixes and two fours. It provided a throwback to Washington of 2016, when he opened the batting, alongside Abhinav Mukund, in the TNPL and showed the intent to hit over the top. Just like that, Washington dumped SRH’s Impact Player out of the attack.
Washington continued to attack even after that. When the ambidextrous Kamindu Mendis darted one on the stumps with his right hand, Washington manufactured swinging room and laced him over extra-cover for four. Washington seemed set for a fifty until he holed out one shy of the landmark in the 14th over.
Gill, who had already crossed 50 by that point, finished the job along with Rutherford, who hit an unbeaten 35 off 16 balls.
Brief scores:
Gujarat Titans 153 for 3 in 16.4 overs (Shubman Gill 61*, Washington Sundar 49, Sherfaine Rutherford 35*; Mohammed Shami 2-28, Pat Cumminss 1-26) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 152 for 8 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 18, Ishan Krishan 17, Nitish Kumar Reddy 31, Heinrich Klassen 27, Aniket Verma 18,Pat Cummins 22*; Mohammed Siraj 4-17, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore 2-24, Prasidh Krishna 2-25)by seven wickets
[Cricinfo]
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