Thursday Dec 12, 2024
Thursday Dec 12, 2024
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When Sri Lanka decided to drop Wanindu Hasaranga, the only spinner who played in the drawn first, and opt for off-spinner Ramesh Mendis and left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama for the second Test, they probably had a reason.
Both spinners had very little or no experience at all in the Test arena – Mendis having played just one Test and Jayawickrama none at all; but they had one thing in common: both played for the same club, Moors SC, in the domestic circuit and had bowled for the club in tandem on many occasions.
Although it was a big gamble that Sri Lanka took playing these two inexperienced spinners against Bangladesh in the second Test at Pallekele, the pair have in fact virtually delivered and brought the team closer to a series clinching win at the end of the fourth day.
With Bangladesh chasing a highly improbable target of 437, Mendis and Jayawickrama have reduced them to 177-5 by taking all five wickets to fall in the second innings.
“Praveen bowled well, and he and I play for the same club, so anyway there is a bowling partnership there. He bowls and puts pressure from one end, and I was doing the same. If we get one more wicket, we’re into the bowlers, so I think we’ll be able to get them out quickly,” was how Mendis summed up the day’s play.
“There could be a bit of pressure on us because the reviews are all gone. I’m not thinking too much about that, because we only need five wickets. It’s not going to be easy to get them, but if we keep doing the right things – that’s all we should worry about,” he said. “There’s a lot of assistance for the spinners on this wicket. We did the right things for a long time, and that’s why we did well.”
Mendis said that during the early days of the pandemic he worked with former Sri Lanka left-arm spinner Sajeewa Weerakoon. “He calls me after each day and tells me what I need to improve. He gives me a lot of support,” he said.
It is still early days for 25-year-old Mendis in his career for he has got a lot to learn if he is to become a permanent fixture in the national Test team. (ST)
