Sports

Duleep Mendis – a man on a mission

Published

3 years ago

2023/06/23

Thilina Walpola

Duleep Mendis

by Rex Clementine

When Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage unceremoniously sacked Duleep Mendis as Chairman of Selectors in 2012, the former Test captain took the blow on the chin. Rather than grumble about his misfortune – which had come less than a month after Sri Lanka had won a Test match in South Africa – he ventured at other opportunities and Oman came calling offering him a job as the Head Coach of their cricket team.

Oil-rich Oman was a cricketing outpost. From scratch, Duleep built a cricketing empire. First, he set up the infrastructure for the sport. Then a domestic tournament and finally fine-tuned the skills of the players who fared well in those local competitions. What Oman has achieved in cricket in just a short span is quite outstanding.

They have already featured in the T-20 World Cup and now they are threatening to earn one of the two remaining slots for the sport’s showpiece event later this year in India – the ICC Cricket World Cup.Incidentally, Duleep was Sri Lanka’s hero as they won the inaugural ICC Trophy, the qualifying round for the 1979 World Cup in England.

The Sri Lankan government had made life difficult for the cricket team in 1979 by refusing to play Israel in the qualifiers due to political reasons. This meant that there was little room for error having conceded four crucial points.

But Anura Tennekoon’s side had capable batsmen of the caliber of Duleep. He was the highest run-getter in the 1979 qualifiers having made 222 runs in four innings. Duleep was Man of the Match in the final top scoring with 66 runs against Canada in Worcester.

Then at the World Cup, as Sri Lanka shocked a star-studded Indian side at Old Trafford, Duleep was Man of the Match again smashing 64 in 57 balls. Long before Sanath Jayasuriya had given Manoj Prabhakar a hiding, Duleep had made Kapil Dev look an ordinary bowler. Sri Lanka take on Oman today in a group game of the Qualifiers in Bulawayo. This should be a cakewalk for the Sri Lankans as on paper they are a far superior side.

The man the Sri Lankan team would be fearing most in today’s clash is not any batter or mystery spinner in the Omani side, but a man named L.R.D. Mendis, whose meticulous planning is legendary. When it comes to cricket, Duleep leaves nothing for chance and he would have well in advance scripted how best Oman can upset Sri Lanka. The game features two of the brightest brains in cricket in Duleep and Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lanka’s consultant coach.

The Sri Lankan team manager Mahinda Halangoda, ten years junior to Duleep at school at S. Thomas’, knows too well what to expect today and he will be telling his charges to take nothing for granted.

Holding is happily retired. Botham is tasting wine. Miandad is spending time with his grandkids. Chappell comes nowhere near a cricket field these days. But Duleep, who’ll be 71 soon, is still hooked on cricket. He has not lost one bit of his passion for the great game. When it comes to cricket Duleep is a beast.

Oman are almost through to the second round. They have shocked Ireland and overcome UAE and have a pretty good Net Run Rate. Even if they lose today, a win over Scotland in their final group game should take them through.

What a brilliant investment Oman have made in picking Duleep as their Head Coach. Apparently, the Sheikhs there treat him like a King. Indeed, he deserves all the royalty treatment. A prophet, the bible says, is not welcomed in his own country.

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Sports

The silent pace revolution in Sri Lanka

Published

9 mins ago

2026/02/13

Priyan

Anusha Samaranayake (R) has been responsible for the development of many fast bowlers in Sri Lanka [Cricbuzz]

Sri Lanka may be a breeding ground for spinners, but a silent fast-bowling revolution is taking place on the island – rather stealthily, without being largely unnoticed. Every day, around 40-50 pace bowlers, drawn from different parts of Sri Lanka, train at the Khettarama Stadium in Colombo under coach AD Anusha Samaranayake, who has worked with fast bowlers ranging from Lasith Malinga of the previous decade to Matheesha Pathirana of the current era. Sling, swing, pace, bounce, yorkers – the full fast-bowling menu is on display.

“Anusha is the father of Sri Lanka’s fast bowling,” says Zubin Bharucha, a coach of repute in India who has worked – and continues to work – with players ranging from Yashasvi Jaiswal to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. “Few can match his knowledge of biometrics, physics, technique and the neuroscience of fast bowling. He has even worked with spinners.”

Crishan Kalugamage instantly endorses Bharucha’s views. “I have worked with Anusha sir for many years in Italy. I speak to him every day, and certainly before a match. He has a big impact on my bowling,” says the 34-year-old spinner from Italy. Kalugamage called Anusha after Italy’s demolition of Nepal in a Group C league fixture of the World Cup on Thursday. Kalugamage emerged player of the match at the Wankhede with figures of three for 18, and he told this website after the match on Thursday night that even before the Nepal game, he had a conversation with Anusha.

Anusha, himself a fast bowler in his playing days and played first class cricket, has worked with almost all Sri Lanka fast bowlers of recent times, beginning from the start of the century at the academy run by Sri Lanka Cricket. From Nuwan Zoysa and Farveez Maharoof of the past to Dushmantha Chameera, Eshan Malinga, Pramod Madushan, Dilshan Madushanka and Nuwan Thushara of the present day, his influence has been wide-ranging.

Along the way, the two famous slingers – Lasith Malinga and Matheesha Pathirana – also came under his wings at the academy. A fact of the matter, Malinga was brought to notice by current Sri Lanka coach Sanath Jayasuriya. And Pathirana had a stint with him and he was advised not to move his face along with his hand before bowling. He has been doing well since. Against Oman in the World Cup on Thursday, Pathirana bowled three overs for 11 runs and the word is back to his past best.

The academy was initially started by Anusha along with Rumesh Ratnayake and Champaka Ramanayake. Rumesh and Champaka later left in search of greener pastures, while Anusha continued with his national duties. He is currently Sri Lanka’s national fast-bowling coach. Incidentally, Anusha has also worked with India pacer Prasidh Krishna and Rahul Dravid’s son, Samit in recent times, having made a trip to Bengaluru.

“I am really surprised by the fast-bowling talent in Sri Lanka,” Bharat Arun, a former India bowling coach, told this website. Arun recently worked with Sri Lanka Cricket and during his two-week stint there in mid-2025, he observed around 70-80 fast bowlers with the potential to break into the national team. “The problem in Sri Lanka is that they tend to address the symptoms rather than the root cause. If they get the system right, there will be many pacers like Malinga and Pathirana,” added Arun.

Anusha (63), of course, is a perfectionist, as Bharucha says. He seems to have an answer to everything about Sri Lanka’s fast bowling – why there are many slingers on the island rather than conventional pacers, why unorthodoxy often outweighs orthodoxy among their quicks, why spin has traditionally taken primacy over pace, and the recent emergence of fast bowlers.

The last question first. It is said that most Sri Lankan pacers come from the coastal areas of the island and are inherently strong, having grown up swimming and running on the beaches – habits that help produce fast bowlers.

Now, coming to the first point – unorthodoxy – it is mainly because there are not many labs, high-performance centers, or research initiatives in the country. The coaches tend to encourage natural, raw talent rather than suppress non-conformity, unlike in other countries who have more organised systems. The reason why slingers emerge from Sri Lanka is that cricket is largely played with tennis balls and sub-innings balls, where sling and sidearm bowling is often more effective than a conventional high-arm action.

Besides, a slinging delivery, bowled from a lower release point, is less likely to meet the sweet spot of the bat than a high-arm delivery. Finally, spin is preferred more in Sri Lanka because the surfaces here deteriorate by about 15 per cent, helping turners more than in SENA countries, where pitches deteriorate by roughly seven per cent, favoring pacers.

Anusha is known for explaining the dynamics of Sri Lanka’s bowling landscape but he does not speak about his own contributions to Sri Lankan cricket. He often talks about three types of fast bowlers. The first group consists of those who bowl around 145 kmph, like Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar. The second group bowls between 125-135 kmph, such as Sri Lanka’s Vaas and India’s Irfan Pathan. The third group includes bowlers who bowl between 135-145 kmph, like James Anderson, and even Wasim Akram.

The first type can unsettle batters with sheer pace but lacks the ability to swing or seam with control. The third type can swing and seam effectively but may not consistently unsettle batters, while the middle type combines both skills – able to bowl with pace, swing, seam, and control.

India’s very own Jasprit Bumrah should belong to this middle category, which could explain his phenomenal success. However, Anusha is contractually bound not to and would not speak about Bumrah or other pacers of current or past generations unless he has permission from his employer, SLC.

[Cricbuzz]

Latest News

Canada, UAE face each other for only the second time in T20Is

Published

1 hour ago

2026/02/13

Priyan

UAE were beaten comprehensively by New Zealand in Chennai [Cricinfo]

UAE are the more experienced, and better performing, side when compared to Canada, though there isn’t much to separate them in the T20I rankings. UAE are 17th, Canada 19th. They have also had more exposure against high-quality opposition between the previous T20 World Cup and this one, playing 11 matches against Full Members while Canada have played none.

UAE, however, were disrupted ahead of their tournament opener, with top-order batter Muhammad Zohaib being sent home. The ECB said it was for “disciplinary reasons”. The ICC said it was due to “player mental well-being and team welfare issues”. Zohaib reportedly said he was forced out.

UAE had to rejig their combination and ended up losing their first game to New Zealand by ten wickets in Chennai. They got half-centuries from Muhammad Waseem and Alishan Sharafu but not much from anyone else, and their bowlers conceded the target of 174 in 15.2 overs.

Canada also suffered a heavy defeat against South Africa in Ahmedabad, where they conceded 213 for 4 and made only 156 in response, with only Navneet Dhaliwal and Harsh Thaker getting past 20 in the chase.

These two teams have faced each other only once before the T20Is – back in 2019, when UAE won by 14 runs in Abu Dhabi.

Alishan Sharafu matched Muhammad Waseem shot for shot during their 107-run stand for the second wicket against New Zealand. Sharafu, 23, struck the ball cleanly and played both an aggressive yet supporting role in the company of Waseem. He had a poor run of scores leading into this T20 World Cup and UAE will hope the 55 in Chennai is a turnaround in form.

“Damien Martyn, eat your heart out!” said Danny Morisson on commentary, when Nayneet Dhaliwal played a back-foot punch through the off side. Dhaliwal rose onto his toes as he punched Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi through the tightly set field. He struck seven fours and a six during his 64 off 49 balls against New Zealand. Dhaliwal, incidentally, was the Canada captain when they played UAE in that T20I in 2019.

UAE could bring in Muhammad Jawadullah as a seam-bowling option. They also have Muhammad Farooq and Simranjeet Singh on the bench, while Haider Shah replaced Zohaib in the squad.

UAE (probable): Aryansh Sharma (wk), Muhammad Waseem (capt), Alishan Sharafu, Harshit Kaushik, Mayank Kumar, Sohaib Khan, Muhammad Arfan, Dhruv Parashar, Haider Ali, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Rohid

Canada are likely to play the same XI that lost to South Africa.

Canada (probable): Dilpreet Bajwa (capt), Yuvraj Samra, Navneet Dhaliwal, Nicholas Kirton, Shreyas Movva (wk), Harsh Thaker, Saad Bin Zafar, 8Jaskaran Singh, Dilon Heyliger, Kaleem Sana, Ansh Patel

[Cricinfo]

Latest News

Buoyant Zimbabwe plot massive upset against depleted Australia

Published

3 hours ago

2026/02/13

Priyan

Brian Bennett was in excellent touch in Zimbabwe's opener [Cricinfo]

After a difficult preparation amid a deepening injury crisis, Australia desperately just wanted to get their tournament started and the off-field distractions did not show during a clinical thrashing of Ireland.

It had started to feel that perhaps Australia’s campaign was cursed before it even began, but they issued a reminder of their depth with spearhead Nathan Ellis stepping up in his return from injury while there were encouraging contributions through a measured batting line-up.

With skipper Mitchell Marsh’s status unclear due to a testicular injury, it’s not exactly smooth sailing just yet for Australia, but they can build momentum and take a significant step forward to the Super Eight stage with another victory in Colombo.

Australia will be heavily favoured but wary against a buoyant Zimbabwe, who enjoyed a successful return to World Cup action by crushing Oman in their opener. Brian Benett underlined his status as a prodigious talent with 48 off 36 balls then, and he will back his aggressive approach in the powerplay against an inexperienced Australia bowling attack.

Zimbabwe do not boast the type of menacing spin options to expose Australia on slower surfaces, but their bustling pace attack will enter confident after rolling Oman over cheaply. This will be a major step up for them, but Zimbabwe should feel excited about playing Australia with contests between these two Full-Member nations rare.

Australia and Zimbabwe have not played one another in any format since an ODI series in northern Queensland in mid-2022. Zimbabwe have been traditionally shunned by Australia although sentiment is starting to shift with the countries set to square off in a three-match ODI series in Zimbabwe later this year. There is also talk of their long Test drought – stretching back to 2003 – finally ending at some point in the next FTP.

To perhaps the surprise of some, Zimbabwe do have the bragging rights at the T20 World Cup, having beaten Australia by five wickets at the first edition in 2007 in their only tournament face-off. It was a historic performance for Zimbabwe against a star-studded Australia side captained by Ricky Ponting and featuring the likes of Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Brett Lee.

It must be said that Australia back in those days had relatively scant regard for T20I cricket. Times have certainly changed, with both teams knowing the stakes of this match and the importance of building early tournament momentum.

In 12 innings since the start of the Ashes, Cameron Green has scored at least 17 runs on ten occasions but, bafflingly, his highest score is only 45. Once again, Green started well against Ireland with two sixes in his first ten balls to race to 21 before hitting straight to midwicket. It was a similar theme in Pakistan ahead of the T20 World Cup, where Green was Australia’s standout batter in a wretched series defeat but he just could not kick on. Green, however, is hitting the ball sweetly and looking the goods at No. 3, where his muscular batting is well suited to the powerplay. A belated big score might not be far off.

If Zimbabwe are going to cause a boil over, then their tall pace attack will have to do some damage. Australia’s batters will fancy their chances of counter-attacking, but Blessing Muzarabani looms as a handful given he took three wickets in the powerplay against Oman in his return from injury. He is a versatile bowler, able to menace with full and short deliveries, but he will need to hit the right lengths against Australia’s aggressive top-order.

There remains some unknowns over Australia’s line-up. Marsh is expected to be unavailable and while Steven Smith’s call up has generated plenty of attention, he hasn’t yet been officially added to the squad.

Big-hitter Tim David is getting closer to a return after a hamstring injury suffered in the BBL on Boxing Day. If David is fit, then the spotlight will turn to who he replaces. Matt Renshaw appears to have done enough after a well-compiled 37 off 33 balls against Ireland.

Spin-bowling allrounder Cooper Connolly could be in the selection gun after limited time at the crease batting at No. 7 and he finished with none for 26 from three overs with the ball. If they want to keep Connolly’s bowling versatility then quick Xavier Bartlett could be under pressure after none for 22 from two overs against Ireland. Left-arm quick Ben Dwarshuis is also in the mix.

Australia (probable): Travis Head (capt), Josh Inglis (wk), Cameron Green, Matt Renshaw, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Cooper Connolly/Tim David, Xavier Bartlett/Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Matt Kuhnemann, Adam Zampa

Veteran wicketkeeper-batter Brendan Taylor, who made an unforgettable 60 not out in the 2007 World Cup match between the teams, is a doubtful starter after retiring hurt against Oman. The exact nature of his injury is unknown, but Taylor is most likely to miss this match and is set to be replaced by reserve keeper Clive Madande, who made ducks against Oman and Netherlands in the warm-up games. Zimbabwe could be tempted to include legspinner Graeme Cremer given the favourable conditions.

Zimbabwe (probable): Brian Bennett, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Dion Mayers, Brendan Taylor/Clive Madande (wk), Sikandar Raza (capt), Ryan Burl, Tashinga Musekiwa, Brad Evans, Wellington Masakadza, Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani

[Cricinfo]