The absence of a specialist off-spinner in the Sri Lanka squad of 15 named for the ICC Champions Trophy in England in June stood out like a sore thumb, but Sri Lanka Cricket and the national selection committee headed by Sanath Jayasuriya were confident that the two spinners they have named were good enough to deliver the goods.
Lakshan Sandakan who bowls left-arm chinaman and Seekkuge Prasanna, right-arm leg-spin were the two specialist spinners who find a place in the squad that comprises eight batsmen and five fast-medium bowlers.
“We think the leg-spinner (Prasanna) and Sandakan can give a lot of variety to the team so the off-spin responsibility has been entrusted to Asela Gunaratne,” said selection committee chairman Jayasuriya.
“Asela has done so in the past and we have a lot of confidence on him as an off-spinner. It depends on the strength of the opposition teams how many left-handers they have in their line-up. The variety of Sandakan gives a lot of opportunity to take more wickets. It’s what you need in a 50-over match. Between the 20th and 40th overs you need to take wickets. So it will be a clever bowler who can take wickets. This is the best line up and I think the spinners can do the needful for Sri Lanka,” he said.
It was only in the recent home series against Bangladesh; Sri Lanka saved their skin by including an off spinner rather late in the Tests, ODIs and T20Is and managed to draw the three series. However in England the thinking is that unlike the subcontinent wickets an off-spinner’s workload would not be as great.
“South Africa has three left-handers (Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy and David Miller), India 2 (Sikhar Dhawan and Yuvraj Singh). We have found that Pakistan wherever we have played them they struggle against leg-spinners and left-arm spinners,” said skipper Angelo Mathews who has regained the Sri Lanka captaincy following a hamstring injury that kept him out of the Bangladesh series.
“Sandakan also spins the ball away from the left hander and if we had included an off-spinner we will not be able to take a leg-spinner because we can select a squad of only 15. It is with that thinking that we have picked Prasanna. We took the chance not to select a specialist off-spinner because Sandakan can take the ball away from the left-hander and we also have Asela who can bowl off-spin,” Mathews said.
Sri Lanka has picked eight specialist batsmen namely Upul Tharanga who is vice-captain to Mathews, Niroshan Dickwella, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis, Chamara Kapugedera, Asela Gunaratne and Dinesh Chandimal. The five specialist fast bowlers are Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep and Thisara Perera.
“After much discussion we picked the final squad. It is the longest selection committee meeting I’ve had since I became chairman of selectors,” said Jayasuriya.
“We’ve always looked at picking the best squad to represent the country. We took the views of all the coaches attached to the team along with the captain and picked the side. Mathews and Tharanga have a lot of responsibility on their shoulders as they carry the hopes of 20 million people in the country.
“As chairman of selectors I think this team will be able to win the Champions trophy and bring it back to Sri Lanka. It is the wish of everyone from the Sri Lanka Cricket president downwards,” he said.
Speaking on the same lines Mathews stated, “This is the best team that you can pick from Sri Lanka which the selection committee has given me. The 2-3 weeks of preparations arranged by Sri Lanka Cricket is going to be very important to us ahead of the tournament. We have 12 days in England and practicing and training in those conditions is going to be very vital for our squad. I have a lot of confidence with the squad given to me. If we perform well we have another opportunity of winning another ICC trophy and bringing it back to Sri Lanka”.
Apart from the main squad of 15, SLC are also arranging for an additional two players – off-spinner Dilruwan Perera and batsman Danushka Gunathilaka who can also bowl off-breaks to accompany the team to England as standbys on tour. These two players can be included in the squad only if there is an injury to any of the players in the main squad. They are being sent along with the main squad to be acclimatized to the conditions and wickets just in case their services are required.
The role of wicket-keeper and openers Jayasuriya said will be decided by the team management after the four practice matches that Sri Lanka will play ahead of the Champions Trophy.
“We have Kusal Perera, Dinesh Chandimal and Niroshan Dickwella, we hope to have Kusal keeping wickets. We will take a final decision on who will keep in England. Going early to England is the best opportunity we have got to prepare for the tournament. We can find a solution to all the question marks we have for instance like the wicket-keeper,” said Jayasuriya.
“We have given the opportunity to the captain, vice-captain and the supporting staff to pick the best 11. If we have three wicket-keepers who are equally good, it’s good for the country. It is not necessary that we name a wicket-keeper ahead of the tournament because we have the choice of picking any of the three,” he said.
The openers berth will be fought out by Tharanga, Kusal Perera and Dickwella.
Apart from the two warm-up games arranged by the ICC against Australia at the Oval (May 26) and against New Zealand at Edgbaston (May 30), SLC has managed to include two practice games against Scotland n May 21 and May 23 at Kent where the team will be training.
Prior to departing to England, the selected squad will undergo specialist training and capacity building in Colombo from May 2-8, intensity, altitude and match conditioning in Kandy from May 9-14 which will include a practice match on May 11 and pre-tour preparations and logistics in Colombo on May 15 and 16 before they depart for England on May 18.
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