Wanindu Hasaranga faces new challenge

By Harsha Amarasinghe   

Leg spinners in cricket are like the policemen in a society. The respect that the civilians have for the policemen is similar to the respect that is shown to the leg spinners by the batsmen and bowlers like Wanindu Hasaranga, Imran Tahir, Yuzvendra Chahal and Tabraiz Shamsi who have truly enjoyed this privilege for such a long time.   

In the modern era, most of the leg spinners have relied upon the googly to get the wickets because the breakthroughs demolish the momentum of the batting side, so the leggies have always been encouraged to try and pick up wickets.   

However, this world cup presents a great opportunity to have a real go at the leg spinners with lack of turn on pitches down under.

   
For the first time, in his career Hasaranga conceded over 50 runs in a T20 match, and that too in just three overs. The Sri Lankan spin wizard really ran out of options as Aussies hammered him out of the park like he was nobody.   

Australia pretty much announced their plan against Hasaranga on the evening before the match when Mitchell Marsh stated that they’d be looking to ‘counter attack’ Hasaranga in an interview.   

They stuck to their plan and had no hesitation against the leading leg spinner and sadly for Hasaranga he just succumbed to the pressure.   

This would not be the last time a team would target Hasaranga, but for the betterment of Sri Lanka Cricket, the RCB’s golden boy should ensure this was the last time he went under prepared for a bunch of six footers coming all guns blazing at him.   

Obviously in professional cricket, players are made to prepare for these kinds of situations, but Hasaranga’s performance is a clear indication that the mental preparation is as important as the tactical preparation.   

Maxwell Survived Close Call

Glen Maxwell’s dismissal off Chamika Karunaratne was a very close one as Ashen Bandara held on to catch at the deep mid-wicket boundary that would be remembered for such long time, but not many would have noticed he has had a close call on life a few minutes before that.   

Lahiru Kumara’s spell against Maxwell was probably one of the best spells by a Sri Lankan fast bowler in Australia. What was special about it was that, the dashing middle order batsman knew exactly what to expect from Kumara, but there was nothing he could do about it. 

Maxwell in general destroys bowlers in T20s. He is a hunter but for an over he looked like a little puppy got stuck in a lion’s cage. He was hit on his neck by an absolute rocket of a delivery by Kumara and Maxwell after a while did recover to carry on but eight years ago Phil Hughes received a similar blow and he never came back. 

Perhaps it’s time to use more protective gears just around that area.