Sports
Hasaranga’s World Cup hopes dimming by the day
by Rex Clementine
Star leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga is waiting to get visa clearance from the British High Commission in Colombo to travel to London to consult a surgeon having suffered a grade three hamstring tear lead up to the ICC Cricket World Cup. The surgeon will assess the spinner and decide whether he requires surgery. Going under the knife invariably means that he will be out of the World Cup.
Hasaranga suffered a grade two hamstring tare during the Lanka Premier League and was ruled out of the Asia Cup. However, he was expected to be fit for the World Cup but during rehabilitation aggravated the injury.
Although the selectors had initially named him in the squad, they pulled him out in the 11th hour. But, they were hopeful that the player will recover and would be able to play some part in the ten nation tournament, at least during the tail end of the competition.
However, medical experts in Colombo from the initial stages had suggested that him recovering before the World Cup wad not a possibility.
The rehabilitation of Maheesh Theekshana, who too injured his hamstring, during Asia Cup has gone well and the bowler is expected to travel to New Delhi on Wednesday ahead of Sri Lanka’s opening game of the tournament on Saturday against South Africa.
The bowler’s condition will be assessed in India and he should get the green light to play against the Proteas, who are vulnerable against spin.
Sri Lanka will take on Afghanistan in the second warm-up game in Guwahati today.
After suffering a seven wicket defat at the hands of Bangladesh in the first warm-up game last week, the Sri Lankans will be trying to tie up a few loose ends before the business end of the competition begins later this week.
One of the key areas the former champions will be looking at is batting out the 50 overs. They failed to utilize the full quota of overs against Bangladesh.
During the warm-up games, teams batting first tend to score in excess of 300 runs and unless Sri Lanka get those runs it will be a struggle for them to defend totals less than 300 on good batting tracks no matter how disciplined their bowling is.
The bowlers in recent months have done fabulous jobs despite missing key players, but batting has been bit of a worry.
The dodgy shoulder of Kusal Janith Perera and the form of captain Dasun Shanaka will be some of the things back in the mind of the team management lead up to the game.
An ODI between Canada and Netherlamds in King City Toronto on Tuesday was abandoned due to a dangerous pitch. The fixture was part of the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 competition, which is part of the qualification pathway for the 2027 ODI World Cup.
The match was abandoned just 4.1 overs into the Netherlands innings after they had chosen to bat. They were 15 for 1, with Max O’Dowd the batter dismissed for a duck in the second over. The pitch had uneven bounce and the batters were struck several times during the short passage of play.
On June 12, four days before the abandoned match, the ICC had issued a statement saying the pitch at King City that was used for an ODI between USA and the Netherlands on June 8 had been given an “unsatisfactory” rating and one demerit point.
“This was a pitch that fell below the standard expected for this level of cricket,” match referee Phil Thompson had said about the surface for the USA-Netherlands match. “Both captains expressed disappointment with how it turned out, and the match officials assessed it as ‘very poor’. The inconsistent bounce created challenging and potentially unsafe playing conditions. Taking all factors into consideration, I believe the pitch merits an ‘unsatisfactory’ rating.”
According to the ICC’s pitch and outfield monitoring process, pitches that get an “unsatisfactory” rating will be given one demerit point, while an “unfit” pitch rating will result in three demerit points for the venue. Demerit points remain active for a rolling five-year period, and an accumulation of six demerit points will result in the venue being suspended from hosting international matches for 12 months (12 demerit points will lead to a 24-month ban).
(Cricinfo)
Joshua Da Silva and Amir Jangoo have earned recalls to West Indies’ squad for the two-match World Test Championship series at home against Sri Lanka starting later this month, while the two Josephs, Alzarri and Shamar, are back after missing the tours of India and New Zealand late last year because of injuries.
Trevin Imalch had kept wicket when West Indies last played Test cricket, in New Zealand last December, but Da Silva, 33 Test matches old, has returned after scoring 996 runs across the last two seasons of the West Indies Championship. Imlach, who failed with the bat in New Zealand with a total of 81 runs across six innings – after scoring 33 runs in his only Test in India – has been named captain of a West Indies Select XI to play the Sri Lankans in a tour match in Coolidge from June 18 to 21. Roston Chase will continue to captain the Test side.
West Indies vs Sri Lanka Tests
Jangoo, dropped after only one Test appearance, in Multan in January 2025, where he scored 0 and 30, has returned to the side following a fruitful WI Championship in which he scored 411 runs in seven innings. He finished second on the scorers’ table there, only behind Da Silva, who scored 413 in seven outing. The highlight of Jangoo’s season was the 203 not out he scored for Trinidad & Tobago against Leeward Islands
The pair of Alzarri Joseph and Shamar Joseph, meanwhile, last played Test cricket during the home series against Australia in mid-2025.”Every Test series is an opportunity for us to grow as a team and strengthen our identity,” Darren Sammy, the head coach, said in a Cricket West Indies statement. “Sri Lanka are a quality side, so we know we’ll have to be at our best, but we’re excited about the challenge ahead.”For us, it’s about playing with discipline, showing character when the game gets tough, and representing the West Indies with pride. The players have been putting in the work, and we’re looking forward to putting on a strong display for our fans across the Caribbean.”
Some of the squad members are currently participating in a high-performance training camp in Antigua, which began on June 12 and will run till June 22. The members of the Test squad who were also part of the white-ball series against Sri Lanka – West Indies lost the ODIs and won the T20Is – will join the camp on June 15. The Tests will be played in North Sound from June 25 to 29 and July 3 to 7.
“This is a key component of our preparations heading into the series, providing players and coaches with valuable time to enhance and improve the skills we want to see sharpened, based on the areas we need to focus our attention on when facing this opponent,” Sammy said about the camp. “It also gives us the opportunity to put clear objectives and plans in place for the conclusion of the summer against Pakistan.
“Additionally, the four-day warm-up game prior to the series provides the chance for some of our Test hopefuls to play in high-intensity action and create the avenue for more competition within the squad ahead of the upcoming and future series.”
West Indies are currently bottom of the nine-team WTC table, having lost seven of their eight games in the ongoing cycle.
West Indies squad for Test series against Sri Lanka
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