SRI LANKATRYING HARDTO PUT CONTROVERSY BEHIND
Mum’s the word for Sri Lanka cricketers on controversial player retirements as their ICC World T20 campaign begins today at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong.
“No questions on player retirements would be answered,” snapped Sri Lanka team manager Michael de Zoysa as several journalists started questioning Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal at the pre-match press conference about the controversially announced retirements of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, on the eve of Sri Lanka’s tournament opener against South Africa.
De Zoysa’s lack of diplomacy and courtesy did not appear the ideal conduct for someone who was the country’s ambassador in front of the international media as the team’s decision could have clearly been communicated to the media in a more gracious manner.
However the gagging strategy may appear akin to closing the barn door after the horse has bolted, as the country’s contract-less cricketers have been going berserk in social media since of late following the decision by the two senior most players to break their retirement plans to media even before informing their selectors.
Skipper Chandimal who himself appears at the moment as the last person deserving a place in the team said that he was hoping to field the best possible team for every match.
“We played some really good cricket in the last two games, we gained some knowledge of the two teams we played against so we know where we stand. We look forward to playing a good 11 in each and every game,” said Chandimal whose highest score in his last 15 T20 International innings is just 22 since November 2011. He has scored a total of 115 runs in those 15 matches at an average of 9.58.
But the right hander who is also Sri Lanka ODI team’s vice captain will have to pull his socks up to lead from the front. He was dropped from the Asia Cup final which Sri Lanka won two weeks ago also in Bangladesh, but the selectors will not enjoy the same luxury this time as he is the captain.
Chandimal revealed
that his team which is the world’s number one ranked in the format, would construct their game plan around spinners for the first phase of the tournament.
“The way our spinners bowled in the Asia Cup, we can assume that the pitches will assist them and we have a good chance against South Africa,” said Chandimal. He also pointed out the supposed weakness of Sri Lanka’s opponents of the group against spin.
“We are in a group with teams that are traditionally not very good at playing spin. So, we have a good chance to use one of our strong points. However, we will take it match by match as our main focus is to get to the semi-final,” said Chandimal who added that the plan may have to change dramatically in the second phase.“From semi finals onwards we will have to plan our strategies differently as majority of the teams in the other group are from seamer-friendly nations,” said Chandimal.However, South African skipper Faf du Plessis has been jubilant to observe a green-top which would obviously help his teams strong point – pace.
“It's a really good wicket. The grass on it, I don’t think we will have too much role in sideways movement. I think it'll be a good deck and lot of runs will be there. It's a good sight to see that this much of grass on a wicket,” said du Plessis.
Du Plessis and star paceman Dale Steyn who are nursing hamstring injuries have still not been cleared for today’s match and will undergo fitness tests this morning.When the two teams last met in the T20 format, South Africa had the better of Sri Lanka by winning a closelyfought three match series 2-1 in Sri Lanka in August last year.