Rex Clementine
in Manchester

Sri Lankans will always love Old Trafford. This is where they played their first ever international game. Invited to play the inaugural ICC World Cup in 1975, the Sri Lankans found themselves pitted against eventual world champions West Indies in their opening encounter. It was indeed a baptism by fire as Sri Lanka were shot out for 86 by the West Indies brutal pace attack.

Four years later though at the same Old Trafford, they were making merry. Taking on an Indian side that comprised several seasoned campaigners, Sri Lanka created a major upset in the tournament by beating them. This win was instrumental in helping Sri Lanka gain Test status less than two years later.

One of England’s northernmost cricket grounds, Old Trafford is colder than London and tests visiting teams, especially the ones from Asia. But in recent years, the pitch here has favored spin bowling.

No doubt Prabath Jayasuriya and Dhananjaya de Silva will enjoy any assistance for spinners, but there are a few question marks against the options Sri Lankan batters take against spin in recent years. The sweep seems to be their bed and butter and while with fielding restrictions on in ODIs it can pay off, in Test match cricket it’s a high risk shot. Any cross bat shot for that matter involves high amount of risk, particularly early in the innings. That’s why batters are better off trusting their defense, their wrists, knock off singles and twos and play the waiting game before cutting loose.

Little known Farhan Ahmed, a 16-year-old off-spinner made his First Class debut against Sri Lanka in Worcester in the four day game last week and claimed three big wickets in the second innings.

The headache is not on how to play spin, but the composition of the side. In the squad is Pathum Nissanka, who has hit a purple patch this year in white ball cricket. Can he break into the Test side? Nissanka hasn’t featured in a Test match in more than two years and the selectors have shown some keenness to bring him in.

There was some indication for this when Dinesh Chandimal was made to keep wickets in Worcester. It seemed that Chandimal will keep wickets instead of Kusal Mendis and Nissanka will be drafted into the squad in place of Mendis. But it all changed on the final day in Worcester when Mendis was having the gloves again. Then it hit you that Mendis is also the vice-captain of the side. So, they have not actually ruled him out.

Mendis’ recent Test record isn’t that great. He was almost axed before the Tests in Bangladesh but managed to hang on as wicketkeeper. He did make a 93 in his last Test match and may have enough runs to argue his case, at least for the first Test.

It is no secret that Mendis has been a huge disappointment for all of us who so passionately follow Sri Lankan cricket. In 2019 when he drove Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada to all parts of St. George’s Park in Port Elizabeth to help secure Sri Lanka a famous series win, you thought that he had turned a huge corner. Because not even the great Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar or Young Khan have been able to win a Test series in South Africa. Kusal Mendis has. That’s why selectors keep backing him. There are many others who keep hoping that Mendis goes on to prove them all wrong for the sake of the national cricket team.