Grant Flower

Sri Lanka batting coach Grant Flower is confident that Kusal Mendis who had a bizarre run with the bat collecting three consecutive ducks in this last three Test innings in South Africa would bounce back in

the upcoming two-Test series against England starting at the Galle International Cricket Stadium on Thursday.

“Batting is a combination of various things - mental, technical, tactical and, if you ask the best players in the world they would say most of it would be mental. So you’ve got to make minor adjustments in everything. But like I say good players adjust and he is a quality player and hopefully we will see the best of him against the English,” said Flower as the Sri Lanka team practiced at the Galle Stadium in preparation for the first Test.

From the fast and bouncy wickets they came up against in South Africa to the slow turners at Galle, Flower said to make the change was “very tough”.

However he said: “The advantage is the players have played here in Galle a lot so they know the home conditions. More so assuming that the players have to live with different stages regarding COVID and playing different formats of the game, so they have to get used to it and the best to adjust.”

Flower said that Kusal Perera who is likely to open the batting with skipper Dimuth Karunaratne has been given a role to play and be aggressive at the top. “That’s his role we have given him the freedom to play, but also you’ve got to find a balance at international level and I think he is getting better all the time. He is a quality player and we look for him to make a good positive start against the English.”

Flower was hopeful that Sri Lanka will be injury free during the two Tests against England.

“The injuries in South Africa were bizarre but it’s well documented. What we spoke about in South Africa and the reasons are pretty obvious. We’ve got to move on and hopefully those guys are going to get stronger and fit and let’s hope there are no more injures in the series,” Flower said. (ST)

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