Batters have significant role, if we are to win - Mendis

Seated on the balcony of the Virat Kohli Pavilion in the Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi, India, Mahela Jayawardena gave his batters a near-30-minute pep talk before they joined the rest of the Sri Lanka team for routine exercise and batting, bowling and fielding drills.

Jayawardena is the consultant coach of the national team and was flown in on Wednesday to share his expertise with the squad in a bid to make an impact on cricket’s biggest stage.

Although only those present at the meeting were privy to the details, it was obvious that the former batting great was trying to motivate his players to bear greater responsibility in batting-friendly Indian conditions and, thus, help withstand the upcoming South African challenge. Jayawardena has played in two consecutive World Cup finals (2007 and 2011) and his wealth of experience as a player, skipper and coach will help Sri Lanka’s search for a winning start to the 13th edition of the World Cup. 

Sri Lanka will play South Africa in their opening game—the first of the nine first-round matches scheduled for the 1996 champions—at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, a superb cricketing facility.

Sri Lankan cricketers have understood how important the batter’s role is in this year’s World Cup where pitches and shorter boundaries are expected to help them.

“The batters have a significant role to play here if we are to win matches and challenge the top teams competing at this year’s World Cup,” Mendis said, after sweating out in the nets.

“If we can put up a score of 300-320, I think the bowlers can challenge them. Each batter has a job to do and if they can do that well, we will be better equipped to beat the South African side,” Mendis said, ruing the absence of Wanindu Hasaranga. Sri Lanka forfeited Hasaranga owing to injury and it’s a gap hard to fill. 

“If not, it won’t be easy for the bowlers to defend a total in these wickets. Bowlers will be greatly challenged in these conditions. What they should do is to do the basics, bowling at the right length and line”.

Sri Lanka’s batting has been exposed every now and then. For instance, during the Asia Cup final Sri Lanka was blown off for 50 runs as India cruised to a 10-wicket win. But Mendis says the conditions in India are different to what they’ve been playing in the recent past.

“Yes, we have struggled in Sri Lanka. Not only us but even India and Pakistan struggled in those slow-turning wickets. But on a good batting wicket in Lahore, we scored runs. The conditions here are similar to that of Pakistan and I am very much confident that our batters will flourish,” Mendis added.

Despite his failure in the final, Mendis has been Sri Lanka’s best batter at the Asia Cup scoring 270 runs off six innings and playing a majestic innings against Afghanistan in the warm-up.

The players were in the nets for about two hours to fine-tune areas that needed attention. Skipper Dasun Shanaka and Kusal Janith Perera, also under injury clouds, flexed their muscles at the nets. Mendis expects both players to make the playing XI along with spinner Maheesh Theekshana, who joined the team on Wednesday.

Shanaka has an elbow injury while Perera has shoulder pain.“They have recovered and were training today. Hopefully, they will be fit to go on Saturday,” he said. (Champika Fernando in New Delhi)