Hasaranga, Chameera fit to play against Zimbabwe

Bhanuka Rajapaksa another opportunity to seal a place

 Vijayakanth Viyaskanth as cover up for Wanindu Hasaranga

• Viyaskanth added to squad as cover

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

The good news for Sri Lanka is that injured player’s all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga and fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera will be available for selection for their opening match of the Pakistan T20I Tri-Series against Zimbabwe at Rawalpindi tomorrow.

Hasaranga suffered a tightness of his hamstring during the second ODI against Pakistan and Chameera a niggling knee that resulted in both players missing out on the third and final ODI against Pakistan.

But with Sri Lanka having four days before their opening fixture against Zimbabwe has given enough time for the players to somewhat recover. Both players attended practice yesterday.

In the meantime as a cover for Hasaranga, the national selectors have included 23-year-old right-arm leg-spinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth who is currently part of the Sri Lanka A team competing in the Asia Cup Rising Stars tournament in Qatar. Viyaskanth has appeared in one T20I match for Sri Lanka against Afghanistan in the 2023 Asian Games.

With Charith Asalanka absent from the squad due to illness his place will be filled by Bhanuka Rajapaksa, who is making a return to international cricket after 10 months. Rajapaksa has been recalled not that he has done anything exceptional during the time he was out of the side, but because of the constant failure of the middle order to produce runs. 

For the hard-hitting left-hander this is another golden opportunity to seal his place in the team with some consistent scores ahead of the T20 World Cup. The lack of consistency is the reason he was left out after the New Zealand series in January. Since scoring that match winning 71* against Pakistan in the Asia Cup final three years ago, Rajapaksa has failed to get past fifty in any of his last 15 innings. Sri Lanka lacks batsmen who can clear the boundary at will and Rajapaksa has the ability to do so.

Rajapaksa and Dasun Shanaka who has taken over the captaincy for the T20 Tri-Series in the absence of Asalanka will have floating roles to play in the batting order at 4 and 5 depending on the situation of the match. Both players are big hitters of the ball.

Shanaka returns to the captaincy after being dumped in the middle of the 2023 Cricket World Cup where Sri Lanka fared disastrously. He was named Vice-Captain to help Asalanka during the T20 Tri-Series but finds himself at the helm following Asalanka’s illness that has resulted in him returning home. A good series with bat and ball will put pressure on Shanaka regaining the T20I captaincy.

The presence of Hasaranga at no. 7 gives the batting a little more depth and allows Sri Lanka to go with five specialist bowlers. With the game commencing at 6 pm (Pakistan time) there is certainly going to be a lot of dew by around 6.30 pm especially with the extreme cold that is experienced during this time of the year. As a result the spinners are going to find it tough to grip the ball. In that context Sri Lanka are going with three seamers – Dushmantha Chameera, Nuwan Thushara and Eshan Malinga and spinner Maheesh Theekshana.

It is rare for Pakistan to host a series during the winter period where the temperature is around 10-12 degrees. For a team like Sri Lanka it is going to be a tough challenge battling the conditions. The toss will play a big part as the side winning it will always want to bowl first.

Sri Lanka are playing two teams whom they will probably face in the T20 World Cup although the conditions are going to be totally different then. They will be making use of this Tri-Series to try and plug in a few loopholes in their batting especially in the middle order and in the final power play.   

Sri Lanka’s probable team against Zimbabwe:

Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera, Dasun Shanaka (captain), Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Kamindu Mendis, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Nuwan Thushara, and Eshan Malinga.