Tourists in survival mode
Off-field turmoil plays havoc with Lankans’ preparations for perilous Proteas series
TO SAY that Sri Lanka are a team in the midst of turmoil would be an understatement.
Theirs is a camp that has enough drama to flight a reality TV series. Cricket Survivor, if you will.
Some players have left the island, citing time after glorious careers. Fair enough.
Some, though, have been axed without consultation with the tribe.
Imagine Faf du Plessis being unceremoniously dumped by Cricket South Africa as captain and coach Ottis Gibson only finding out as he boarded the flight to go on tour.
In many ways, Dinesh Chandimal might mean even more to Sri Lanka than Du Plessis to South Africa. The loss of the combative Chandimal to a young side leaves a far bigger hole than the absence of Du Plessis from a very experienced Proteas line-up. They were just fine without him in the final Test against Pakistan.
You cannot safely say that Sri Lanka will be just fine without their leader, though.
Load-shedding candles in the wind come to mind.
Dimuth Karunaratne has been handed the reins, perhaps partly based on his success with the bat against South Africa last year. How long ago that must feel now.
“It’s a privilege for me to captain. It’s not an easy job, but I’m trying my best,” Karunaratne stated.
His side chose not to practice on the day before the Test. Not at all. To be fair, they have put in a sizeable shift over the weekend and they might feel inclined to take a young squad’s minds away from the task ahead of them.
“I am excited, but we will see how it goes. I just want to play good cricket as a player, and then keep the boys relaxed,” the Lankan skipper continued.
His new middle-order man Angelo Perera said one of his captain’s strengths was his relaxed demeanour.
They will need large doses of that at Kingsmead because South Africa are planning on making their comfort a distant memory.
“We had a tough series in Australia,” the captain observed.
“It is not easy but you have to try and make runs in these conditions,” he said of batting in South Africa.
He wants to try and give confidence to his younger players and has been imploring them to play to their maximum.
The more you hear and watch the latest episode of Sri Lanka’s Cricket Survivor, the more you dread the credits.
Someone is to blame for this mess but it is not the 11 men who have to take the field and scrap for survival this week.
The captain agrees.
“It is not easy to play when there is other stuff coming from the outside,” he pointed out.
His English might not be as fluent as his cover drive, but Karunaratne played a straight bat to every question that came his way.
He and Kusal Mendis and Kausul Silva will have to front up and then look for support from the younger ones.
It is a heck of a test in the midst of match-fixing allegations, bizarre selections, and a coach whose role has been diminished to not much more than a cajoler of spirits.
The tribe has spoken, even from across the oceans. That is the danger of mixing sport and politics.
Sri Lanka will turn up at Kingsmead, but spare a thought for the Lions.
They have a lot going on.
To even hazard a guess about their starting XI would be foolish. Even their coach hasn’t a clue.