When South Africa where going hammer and tongs at the Arun Jaitely Stadium, en route to a record total in World Cup history, it was clear that Sri Lanka were missing their X-factor with the ball – Maheesh Theekshana. Already reeling with injury concerns, Theekshana being ruled of the opener – still recovering from a hamstring injury – was a big blow.
However, for the second game against Pakistan, Sri Lanka have got a shot in the arm with the finger spinner available for selection as confirmed by the assistant coach Naveed Nawaz during the pre-match presser at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal.
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“Theekshana’s – I think he should be available for this game. We didn’t want to take a risk with him in the first game and didn’t want to go against the advice of the medicals so I’m sure he’ll be available for this one,” said Nawaz.
Theekshana has been an integral part of Sri Lanka’s bowling attack and in the last year in ODIs, the 23-year-old has been the highest wicket for the team (34) and has the best average (20.52). But Theekshana alone cannot change the fortunes of the team against a strong Pakistan unit that has the advantage of playing at the venue for a total of three games now, including the two warm-up games.
On the other hand, Sri Lanka were not even able to practice on the strip due to the New Zealand-Netherlands games. The scheduling is such that Hyderabad is hosting back-to-back games on the 9th and 10th. SL had to put in the hard yards at the nearby Gymkhana Cricket Ground and Nawaz conceded that they were going in blind and that also affected their team selection as well.
“Because we were training outside Hyderabad ground today as well, so we never got an opportunity to look at how the pitch looks like. So probably we’ll have a look at the wicket and make a call on that, said Nawaz, but he did say that the Hyderabad wicket has produced runs and he is expecting a good game.
“I think it’s going to be a good tussle. The boundaries are slightly longer than in Delhi. The wickets have been good in Hyderabad. It has produced runs. There is a bit of bounce. So, I think it’s going to be a good game and two good teams playing each other. It’s a challenge for our boys as well.
Despite the drubbing the bowlers were handed out by the Proteas, there were a couple of positives for Sri Lanka namely, Kusla Mendis’s fiery reply with the bat and the return of form of skipper Dasun Shanka with the bat.
“That has been a worry for all of us that Dasun was not among the runs and he’s had a couple of injury scares as well. As a group, we are very pleased that, he’s scored runs and he’s getting better with his tennis elbow as well, Said Nawaz about the skipper.
Mendis will remain key for SL in the batting order and Nawaz hoped the stylish batter would continue with his aggressive mindset.
“I think the way to go for Kusal is the aggressive option. He needs to be positive; he needs to be looking for runs every time and he’s been successful playing like that and I guess he should continue to play like that,” he added.
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