A fast bowler who has 25 Test wickets in a year at an average of 22.68 (
Lahiru Kumara), left-arm swing bowler who averages 24.12 in South Africa (
Vishwa Fernando), right-arm fast bowler with 68 career wickets at an average of 25.97 (
Asitha Fernando), and even more good options on the bench.
Sri Lanka have probably had better fast bowlers than they do now – Chaminda Vaas took 355 Test wickets, and Lasith Malinga was on fire until injuries took him down. But Sri Lanka has probably never before had as much depth in fast bowling as it does currently.
in durbanFor example, they left out Kasun Rajitha, who himself averages 25.00 in South Africa and is probably their tallest bowler. They also dropped Milan Rathnayake, who had made impressive progress with bat and ball in England earlier this year.
Dhananjay de Silva Knows that few other Sri Lankan captains have command of such seam-bowling resources.
“I’m very happy because they know their game now and what they need to do for the team,” de Silva said of his fast bowling. “I think I need to give a lot of credit
Dimuth KarunaratneBecause he was the previous captain, and it was under his leadership that a lot of these bowlers started and developed. As captain I am able to get those awards, so I would like to give to Dimuth
Ayya To his credit.”
are sri lanka
a test is about to start on a green South African surface at Gkebarha, and although they can still choose to pick an XI that includes their specialist spinner – Prabhat Jayasuriya – they have the option of choosing four seamers, as they did
in the oval Earlier this year, to excellent effect.
“As of now we are talking about how many fast bowlers we will play and will decide later,” de Silva said. “The track here is very green.
“I think in the England series we learned that we can win matches abroad with our pace attack. They are improving day by day and we saw the result at the Oval. We can’t blame our fast bowlers for that. Can lose in Durban – it’s all on the batsmen, you can’t win a Test like this.
In fact in Karunaratne’s first series as captain, Vishwa took four wickets in a match at Gakebaraha, which Sri Lanka won.
in 2019However, Vishwa is not the only Sri Lankan fast bowler in the probable XI for Thursday who has tasted success in South Africa. Kumara first emerged into international consciousness with a spectacular nip-backer
at newlandsWhich hit the stumps of no less a batsman than Hashim Amla.
Since then, Kumara’s performances in South Africa have been mediocre and he has struggled with injuries, notably hamstring strains and tears. If he plays on Thursday, which is highly likely, he will have played seven Tests in 2024, his highest number for a calendar year.
“As far as I see, Lahiru has been performing consistently in the last two years and has played a lot of matches,” de Silva said. “He’s been in and out of the team because of injuries, but now he’s been able to play consistently and is learning what his strengths and weaknesses are. He’s now able to support those strengths because he’s played consistent matches “I think that’s the main thing that has contributed to his success.”
The heavy defeat in Durban was almost entirely due to the failure of the batting group, de Silva said. Although he is a spinner himself, he has been a fast bowling captain, insisting that Sri Lanka play at least two fast bowlers at home, so that they can be more competitive in the SENA nations. He is hoping to see results in Gqebarha.
Source link
Leave a Reply