It’ll be a shame if Kusal Janith Perera fades into obscurity having impressed in patches on the big stage over the last decade and a half.
Injuries, a wrong suspension for a banned substance, and cricket politics have all prevented his career from flourishing. Turning 33 in a few days’ time, Sri Lankan fans will be hoping that his brutal hitting comes against international opponents and not in franchise cricket alone.
KJP promised so much but has delivered so little. All the blame for it is not his. In his return to competitive cricket after shoulder surgery he has showcased the impact he can make. KJP firing on all cylinders is extremely crucial for Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup and World Cup. A fully fit KJP should be an automatic choice for both events irrespective of his form.
Like KJP, another batter who has got all the time in this world to play fast bowling is Avishka Fernando. ODI cricket is one format that he has fared pretty well, and he is in decent form, and that should earn him a place in the Asia Cup squad with Sri Lanka’s batting exposed against even weaker attacks during the World Cup Qualifiers.
Like KJP, injuries and ill-advised fitness tests have taken their toll on his promising career. Both batters are representing the same team in the ongoing Lanka Premier League and for Dambulla to go on to have an impact in the competition their form is going to be key.
More importantly, if both are going to convert that success in Asia Cup, Sri Lanka will be in good hands and the Asian Cricket Council’s ambitious plans of having a third India-Pakistan encounter inside two weeks could suffer a major blow.
Sri Lanka’s strength is their bowling. The attack has made many a strong batting unit eat humble pie. You also wonder whether Sri Lanka would have come home unscratched from Zimbabwe if not for their bowling resources as the batting was found wanting. The selectors need to look at a left-arm spin option and they will do well to look beyond Dunith Wellalage. Wellalage no doubt will serve Sri Lankan cricket well in the longer run but if your bigger picture is the World Cup in just two months away, then, you have got to look elsewhere leaving Wellalage to develop himself.
Coming back to the main issue, with batting being the biggest worry, the team needs to address a few issues. Sri Lanka needs to move away from their obsession with Kusal Mendis.
He has cut a poor figure in recent months and when you have already Sadeera Samarawickrama in the lineup to keep wickets, the likes of KJP and Avishka should be welcome additions.
At the moment there’s an invincible aura around Kusal Mendis that you get the impression that he is undroppable.
If the great Aravinda de Silva can be dropped and can fight his way back into the side, there’s no harm in Mendis suffering the same fate.
Yes, there’s this theory that the talents you have identified need to be backed no matter what. Agreed! But there comes a time when even Virat Kohli needed a wake-up call and Mendis should not be an exception.
Skipper Dasun Shanaka is under immense pressure as well after a poor outing in Zimbabwe. A lot of people seem to have raised questions about Dasun’s place in the side and rightly so. While no one is questioning his credentials in the T-20 format, in ODI cricket Dasun needs to certainly pull up his socks.
The captain himself has not helped his cause for he has reluctantly introduced himself into the attack and even when teams have found it difficult to score runs off him, he has not bowled himself sufficiently.
A high score of 31 in the last 11 innings doesn’t paint a good picture of Dasun. However, he did start off the year well having scored a century against a good Indian attack in Guwahati. Since then, it has been all downhill for him.
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In the LPL, he started off well impressing with both bat and ball, but in the second game forgot to bring himself on and did little favour for himself. What was more inexplicable was that the opposition was struggling and if he needed bit of confidence there wouldn’t be any harm in bowling a few overs.
Despite all the criticism and failures, Dasun needs to be backed to carry this team to the World Cup and if at all the authorities are going to think about a change of guard it has to come after the World Cup. But after the World Cup, are we going to fall back on Mendis, the captain in waiting having been named vice-captain?
Having taken over the side under difficult circumstances, Dasun Shanaka has led the team from the front and Sri Lanka has been punching above their weight. Not too long ago this was a team that was facing whitewashes against every opponent but under Dasun they have been far more competitive. He needs to be backed. Not sacked.
