STRUGGLE FOR CONSISTENCY: SRI LANKA’S TRANSITION ON A ROUGH PATCH
By Team Leading Edge
It was expected to be a difficult transition period for Sri Lanka post the retirement of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. There is undoubtedly no quick fix to replace these stalwarts who have amassed nearly 25,000 runs with a combined experience of over 280 test games. However, the change of guard has been a highly testing time for the island nation.
Their test defeat at Nagpur was Sri Lanka’s 7th loss in the longer format and their 4th innings defeat this calendar year (winning % is 33.3). Since the 3-0 whitewash of Australia at home, the team has suffered a 3-0 thrashing in the test series against South Africa, a test defeat at home in the hands of Bangladesh, and succumbed to a 3-2 loss to Zimbabwe in white ball cricket shortly after. A heavy series defeat against India followed, but the side showed glimpses of revival when they notched up a morale boosting victory against Pakistan, handing them their first test series defeat since moving their home games to the United Arab Emirates.
Much of Sri Lankan cricket’s struggle for consistency has also largely stemmed from their misfiring middle order, which has lacked stability and been shuffled around. Since Sangakkara’s retirement, 9 batsmen have been auditioned for the crucial third spot and comparing this with other international teams during the same period, only Bangladesh (19.90) and Zimbabwe (12.21) average less in the same position.
Out of the tried and tested, 22-year-old Kusal Mendis averages 35.4 in his 23 innings. His gritty 110, though in a losing cause against India earlier this year showed glimpses of his huge potential, but a lackluster series against Pakistan with scores of 10,18,1 and 29 led to selectors dropping him for the India tour. Kaushal Silva scored a brilliant 115 against Australia at No.3, but has failed to get another crack at No.3, and following a disappointing series against Pakistan, the right hander failed to make the cut for the India tour.
Lahiru Thirimanne, who has drifted in and out of the side, scored 7 runs in the first test against Pakistan, but the selectors have held faith in him to hold the position for the first two tests against India. His 51 in the first innings at Kolkata was his first half century score since August 2015 in tests.
The numbers for the no.4 spot don’t make a kind reading either. Sri Lanka are rock bottom in the ten-member test nations in terms of the average for the position.
Fitness and form worries of former skipper Angelo Mathews have also been well documented. The 30-year-old, who was expected to lead Sri Lankan cricket into a new era, has not scored a century since his 110 against India over two years ago and will be pining for a revival of fortunes starting with the India series. Current test skipper Dinesh Chandimal has the highest average of almost 40 (39.45) in his 21 innings post the Jayawardene era at no.4, and will be hoping to forge a solid partnership with his former captain Mathews to revive Sri Lanka’s middle order batting woes.
It has been a frustrating period for the fans of Sri Lanka cricket and it still remains to be seen whether the side are closer to finding any answers than they were two years ago to fill in the void left by Sangakkara and Jayawardene.