Lack of consistency bane of Sri Lanka’s T20I cricket

•  Sri Lanka nowhere near to becoming the team to beat
• “What happened to us at the Asia Cup is for the good” says Asalanka

DUBAI: The ongoing Asia Cup tournament has exposed Sri Lanka’s frailties not only in their batting, but also in the balance of the team, which they have been struggling to find a solution for.

Apart from the two openers Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis, Sri Lanka has been constantly changing their batting and bowling line-ups searching for that consistency. They have brought in new players and shifted batting positions and changed bowling combinations without much success.

What the Asia Cup has exposed is that Sri Lanka are not good at defending totals. They have achieved the majority of their wins when chasing. The three wins they achieved in the Asia Cup group stages were while chasing totals. When they had been invited to bat first, which was the case in the first two matches of the Super Fours, Sri Lanka was found wanting in being unable to defend totals. 

“The stats say that in Dubai and in Abu Dhabi, chasing is the best thing, but we can’t rely on the toss. As professionals, whatever we are faced with, we have to do it well,” said Sri Lanka Captain Charith Asalanka.

Since the last T20 World Cup in 2024, in 22 T20Is, Sri Lanka have chased and won eight times and defended and lost on six occasions. They have successfully defended and won only twice.

These are far-reaching issues that Sri Lanka need to tackle within the next five months before the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, which they will be co-hosting with India.

With the chances of reaching an Asia Cup final receding after Sri Lanka’s loss to Pakistan, Asalanka, looking ahead of what needs to be done before the T20 World Cup, said: “What happened to us at the Asia Cup is for the good. As a team, there are areas where we can be satisfied with and areas that need improvement. We are unhappy after playing so well in the group stages to lose back-to-back matches in the Super Fours. Going into the T20 World Cup, we had a big problem with regard to combinations. We tried to go with four specialist bowlers and three part-timers. Today, we tried out with an extra bowler and then we found that we were one batsman short. These are the areas we need to rectify. We had a problem with the middle order but little by little, it is improving. The areas we need to improve are how, as a batting unit, we can score 180-200 and how we can get the best out of the part-time bowlers like Dasun (Shanaka), Kamindu (Mendis) and me.”

Asalanka said that it was hard to come back when you lose five wickets in the first half of the innings. “Against a good side like Pakistan, it’s really hard. Although Kamindu and the others fought back, it was not enough.

“We had a problem with our middle order a couple of months ago and, before this game, the batters had done a great job. But in this game, what they did was not enough. Sometimes, it could be a lack of patience and lack of communication, but the responsibility is ours. At the same time, credit should go to Pakistan, they bowled really well.”

“We initially targeted to score 170+ because we knew the pitches in Abu Dhabi were better than those in Dubai. Even though we didn’t get the start from the openers, we scored 54 inside the powerplay. Despite having lost three wickets, we were in a good position but Dasun’s and my dismissals within two balls of each other was the crucial moment of the match.”

Asalanka said that if Sri Lanka can solve their problems during the upcoming bilateral series with Pakistan and the tri-series with Pakistan and Afghanistan, both taking place in Pakistan in November, his team can go a long way.

“We have to once and for all solve the problem of whether we should go with a 7-4 combination or a 6-5 combination. We cannot be experimenting all the time.”