Four things to look ahead to in Super Provincial Tournament 

By Madushka Balasuriya 

With less than two months to go to the World Cup, Sri Lankan Cricket (SLC) is in the midst one of the worst runs in its history. Since the start of 2018, the national team has won just six of 24 completed ODIs, and are currently on a run of eight straight defeats in the format. It is in this context that the Super Provincial 50-over tournament gets underway today, one which has rarely been imbued with more importance.

In fact, the tournament was not even on the calendar a few months ago, with SLC being forced into organising it after Sri Lanka’s successive tours of New Zealand, Australia and South Africa brought forth more questions than answers. 

In terms of finalising the World Cup squad, SLC and the selectors have more than a few issues, and this tournament is their final gamble in trying to resolve them. Here we will take a look at some of the key talking points ahead of the tournament.

Oh captain, my captain!

Our fearful trip is just getting started! Sri Lanka’s bevy of rotating captains in recent years doesn’t bear repeating, but ahead of the World Cup there is still the outside chance we might get a new addition to the list. Yes, Dimuth Karunaratne, is in with a shout of being handed the limited overs captaincy, though it is more likely to go to one of Angelo Mathews, Lasith Malinga or Dinesh Chandimal.

For the selectors, the tournament will provide the ideal platform for each of the four candidates – all of whom will be captaining one of Galle, Colombo, Dambulla or Kandy – to state their case. However each comes with their pros and cons.

The two most obvious candidates, Mathews and Malinga, bring with them a litany of caveats. Mathews is rumoured not to see eye-to-eye with head coach Chandika Hathurusingha, while his hamstrings are seemingly made of putty. 

Malinga, meanwhile, has also had his share of disagreements with the coach, while his falling out with Thisara Perera was plastered all over social media. To compound matters, there is the small matter of several rumoured player factions impacting unity within the dressing room.

In this sense, going with either Chandimal or Karunaratne, both known to have good rapport with their teammates and the coach, may seem the more sensible choice. But while the former two are shoo-ins in the first XI when fit, Chandimal was most recently dropped for the South Africa tour on grounds of poor form, and this tournament is likely his final chance at earning a spot for the World Cup.

Karunaratne, meanwhile, was Sri Lanka’s standout Test performer in 2018 and has been known for his fascination with data and self-improvement, both attractive traits in a leader. But he hasn’t played

ODI cricket in four years, which brings us to the following.

The Dimuth dilemma

The last time Dimuth Karunaratne played a One Day International, his services with the bat weren’t even required, as Lahiru Thirimanne, Tillekeratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara made easy work of chasing down England’s 310 in Wellington at the 2015 World Cup. Ah, good times.

Fast forward to the present, with a yet another World Cup on the horizon, Karunaratne is in line for a recall. It’s not however his exploits on the field – which, while not insignificant, have sadly come in Tests, thus making them a less reliable indicator of limited overs form – that has made the selectors take notice. 

Rather, it was for his marshalling of the team during Sri Lanka’s historic Test series win in South Africa in February, when he took over a team bereft of confidence and coaxed a freedom of performance so rare, so unexpected, that fans would have been forgiven for wrapping themselves in cotton wool for fear of being pinched and awoken from such a glorious dream.

The questions the selectors now have to answer are, can Karunaratne’s ability to gel a squad be translated into the mess that is Sri Lanka’s limited overs unit? Can he have the same impact if he isn’t made captain? And can Karunaratne the player, who averages 33 at a strike rate of 75 in 116 List A matches, justify his selection in the team, and be of value in ODI cricket? That last one is likely to be answered in the course of this tournament.

The openers

Even during Sri Lanka’s successful periods, settling on an opening pair was never an easy task. Yes, in years gone by we’ve seen Sanath and Kalu, and then Sanath and Marvan, but in terms of longevity that’s about it. Afterwards, it was essentially Dilshan and whoever was playing alongside him at the time. And to a large extent this worked, mainly because at least one partner was devastating, and the other was simply expected to play around them.

However, since those halcyon days, it’s been slim pickings. Niroshan Dickwella has been given one of the slots over the last few series, but his brand of aggressive, single gear, come-what-may cricket, hasn’t come off regularly enough to be relied upon, and on the occasions it has come off he hasn’t been provided with adequate support.

A large part of that is due to the absence of Danushka Gunathilaka, statistically Dickwella’s favoured opening partner – in 11 ODIs opening together the pair have scored 765 runs at an average of 69.54, including three century stands.

The pair will be reunited in Team Dambulla, something the selectors and fans will be keeping a keen eye on.

Middle-order marauders and spinning all-rounders

The most successful Sri Lankan teams were all blessed with members of the top order who could roll their arm over in a pinch, from the more accomplished feats of Jayasuriya and Dilshan to the more part-time efforts of Aravinda. Then moving further down the order you had the likes of Upul Chandana and Kumar Dharmasena dishing out their own brand of jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none exploits. 

While it’s not as simple as selectors wanting to merely replicate previous winning formulas, the lack of a spinning all-rounder is something that has definitely adversely impacted the national team. As it stands only Dhananjaya De Silva is capable of both bowling spin and batting up the order from the present lot, while a lower order batsman that dabbles in spin is yet to be found. 

With Akila Dananjaya also having looked rather ineffective in South Africa, this leaves the team in dire need of a wicket-taking threat in the middle overs – something that is essential if there is to be any hope of keeping opposition totals to in and around the 300-mark.

From a batting perspective too, a spinning all-rounder would help the team bat deeper, complementing the likes of Isuru Udana and Thisara Perera already offer a genuine big-hitting threat lower down the order.

While it is true that there are World Cup spots up for grabs in this tournament, at least 10 of the 15 are more or less nailed down, so if there is to be an unlikely World Cup pick SLC’s search for a genuine spinning all-rounders might be the most likely path.