Sri Lanka ended a 44-month drought without a home series win in ODIs with an emphatic seven-wicket win over Bangladesh on Sunday at RPS to launch their forward march after the World Cup disappointment in England and Wales.
The series win has enabled them to retain the eighth rank in ODIs ahead of West Indies. Incidentally, it was West Indies that Sri Lanka last beat at home in November 2015 and since then they lost five series at home including to Zimbabwe.
Bangladesh have had the wood over Sri Lanka in recent times and it was important to put the record straight with some observers claiming that Dimuth Karunaratne’s side was lucky to get one point against Bangladesh after their World Cup fixture was washed out in Bristol. A 3-0 drubbing will confirm that Sri Lanka still have the edge over Bangladesh and more importantly that they are finding ways to take wickets and contain teams even without Lasith Malinga.
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The performances of some unusual suspects were a treat to watch. Avishka Fernando was the hero coming up with a blistering knock to claim the Man of the Match award. Akila Dananjaya outfoxed the batsmen and bowling so well after being snubbed for the World Cup. Lahiru Kumara, another player overlooked for the World Cup, bowled with fire, hurrying the batsmen although he didn’t have anything to show on the wickets column.
While three young players came up with noteworthy contributions, senior pro-Nuwan Pradeep filled the absence of Malinga admirably well bowling with control and surprising the batsmen mixing up his deliveries. If only he can keep away from injuries, Pradeep will serve the national team well. It’s up to the coaching staff to draw up a plan that ensures an injury-free career for him. At one point, the selectors had made the call that he will only play ODIs, but a series of injuries forced the selectors to bring him back to the Test squad in 2017 and since then he has been plagued by a series of injuries.
Perhaps Pradeep should stick to white-ball cricket even if he has reached optimum fitness levels, just to make sure that there’s no burnout. No player would want to limit himself from one form of the game so the ideal scenario would be the rotation of players for series and even games, a policy these days even adopted by India. A case in point being Virat Kohli skipping the Asia Cup last year after a hectic season.
The series win hopefully is the platform that is required to build on for the future. We have got to admit the fact that we are left with some tough challenges in the next few years to come.
There was a time in years gone by that once the series was secured, the selectors would blood in young players to provide them exposure at the big stage. But that can not be done in the present context. Every game counts as the result of it reflects in ICC ODI Rankings. For example, a 3-0 win will reduce the gap between Sri Lanka and seventh-placed Bangladesh to single-digit rating points while a 2-1 series win will widen the gap between the teams to 12 points.
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Being number eight means that Sri Lanka is still flirting with danger. By the time the cutoff date for automatic qualifications for the 2023 event in India comes, they should be at least ranked seventh or above.
Also exciting is the World Test Championship that will get underway later this week with the Ashes getting underway in Birmingham. Sri Lanka’s first encounter in the championship will be against New Zealand next month.
Time was when we were ranked second in Test rankings. We also had the world’s number one ranked Test batsman and bowler. Today the reality is far from it. But the good thing is that it’s a fresh start. When in mood, our players can do some of the most amazing things that take place on the cricket field, as they showcased against England at Headingley earlier this month.
Over the next 24 months, Sri Lankan cricket has three major tasks to pull off. The number one of them would be to qualify for the World T-20. Then through consistent performances in ODI cricket to get to the rank of seventh or above in order qualify automatically for the World Cup in 2023. Then finally to be ranked amongst the top two teams in the world in Tests in a bid to compete in the World Test Championship final in the United Kingdom in 2021. Interesting times are ahead.
