MAINTAINING DISCIPLINE KEY TO PROGRESS - THEEKSHANA

Maheesh Theekshana (left) celebrates a dismissal

By champika fernando in hyderabad

So far, Sri Lanka has conceded 773 runs in 98.2 overs in the World Cup and taken nine wickets. In terms of runs conceded, Sri Lanka tops the chart, although the 1996 World champions are yet to put points on the table. They lost the first match by a 102-run margin to South Africa and, in Hyderabad, despite being in a position of strength, allowed the Pakistani batters to run away with a comfortable six-wicket win. This is despite Sri Lanka having Maheesh Theekshana - the most experienced player in an inexperienced bowling attack that includes players like Matheesha Pathirana, Dilshan Madushanka and Dunith Wellalage.

All are in their early 20s. Theekshana, Madushanka and Wellalage were the most economical of the lot, leaking 59, 60 and 62 each, while Pathirana was the most expensive Sri Lanka bowler, giving away as many as 90 runs in nine overs. Against South Africa, he gave away 95. But was it pure bad bowling that was on display at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium on Tuesday night? Or was it the failure of Sri Lanka’s middle and late-order batters to flourish at the death which has put pressure on the bowlers on placid Indian batting tracks? Theekshana admits that lack of international experience is hurting their chances badly.

Having said that, he thinks that, had the batters finished off the innings strongly, capitalising on the strong foundations Sri Lanka received through Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrema, they could have still defended the total. “I think we were short of 20, 30 runs,” Theekshana said. We had a chance of getting 370 or 380 in that wicket but, unfortunately, we lost a lot of wickets during the last power play.” Sri Lanka were 283 for four at the end of the 40th over and a score of over 375 was on the card. But Pakistan pulled back things strongly in the final 10 overs. Sri Lanka collected only 61 runs and, more importantly, lost five wickets to finish on 344 for nine in the 50 overs, a sizable total they could have defended with a little bit of discipline in bowling and fielding. “Be it the fast bowlers or the spinners, they don’t have much experience.

I think they have to get more experience and play more games. Even for the fast bowlers, and the smaller boundaries that they had in Delhi, it’s really hard to bowl. So, yes, they have to execute plans. I think they will do that in the next games,” an optimistic Theekshana said. Theekshana has played 28 games. Matheesha (12), Madushanka (8) and Wellalage (17) have a combined 37 matches behind them. “We’ve traditionally been a team that wins through our bowling strength,” Theekshana said. “However, playing here is significantly different from playing in Sri Lanka. The wickets here are less forgiving; a slight misstep in line and length from a bowler can easily lead to a boundary.

Before India beat them in an Asia Cup Super-Fours match, Sri Lanka had won 13 matches on the trot, a record only behind Australia’s 21, although these wins were mostly against teams ranked lower than them. “In Sri Lanka, the slow and uneven wickets offer some room for error, especially for spinners. The other noticeable difference is the high-scoring nature of games here.

The team batting second can chase down big totals. I believe if we had scored at least 370 runs today, the outcome might have been different. The conditions were favourable for us, and we had a rare opportunity to beat Pakistan, something we hadn’t done for many years, even when some of our legends were representing the country. Unfortunately, we lost due to mistakes in all three departments - bowling, batting, and fielding,” Theekshana explained. Sri Lanka play Australia in their next first-round match on October 16 in Lucknow and Theekshana said they need to work hard to get accustomed to these wickets where batsmen can easily score 350-360 runs. “From a bowler’s perspective, if we don’t maintain discipline in our game, we’ll definitely lose.

The same goes for our fielding. Discipline is the key. Given the magnitude of this tournament and the number of matches, I believe we need to work harder and maintain discipline to secure wins. We’ve been travelling within India as a team, but I think if we maintain discipline, we can turn the tide in our favour,” he explained.