Sri Lanka seek new pastures going in to T20 series vs Pakistan

By Srian Obeyesekere reporting from Abu Dhabi

Sri Lanka will seek new pastures locking horns with Pakistan in the T20 form in a bid to put behind the recent ODI series loss. It will be an altogether new draught of air breathed in to the Sri Lanka T 20 side that takes on Pakistan in the 3-match series, the first of which day-night match gets underway today Thursday October 26 at the Al Sayed Abu Dhabi Stadium..

At the helm of things is the dynamic all-rounder Thisara Perera who takes over the captaincy from Upul Tharanga who along with several of the top rung players made themselves unavailable to tour Lahore for the third T20 to be played in Lahore on October 29. The consequent new outlook squad for the series thus sees an altogether different cast in the 16-member squad which does comprise six of those who performed in the ODI series. Of course, the new look team that will take on Pakistan in the opening match does possess several talented players who have performed for their country in the biff bang game quite pleasingly.

The series would serve as a new challenge for the 28-year old Perera to revive a somewhat flagging career. As self admittedly stated by the new captain on his appointment that to lead his country was a turning point of great honour, certainly the world is before the utility player who packs fire in his play to lead from the front and prove himself. Of course, the name of the game is to take Sri Lanka to victory blending a new cast to the optimum in getting the better of Pakistan who have turned a new corner in their cricket; a new corner bordering on an aura of invincibility since becoming the kings of ODI cricket in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy not so long ago. Pakistan has succeeded ion transferring that success to its instant cricket in no uncertain terms, and in what is second home to them in desert ground indeed Pakistan by all reports flitting in would carry the same rampant clout from the ODI success against Sri Lanka to the T20 series as well. This is borne by the fact that several new finds have raised their hands as devastating performer with the bat and ball.

Therein, Perera would need to come good with the type of fire power that won him world admiration as a champion performer; a factor that saw him picked ahead of other Sri Lankans to represent a World XI against Pakistan a month ago in Lahore in a 3-match series. Perera did come good in leading the World XI to a nail biting win in one of the matches by a fire power performance with bat and ball.

Today’s cast is expected to be in the form of Dilshan Munaweera, 2 Danushka Gunathilaka, 3 Sadeera Samarawickrama, 4 Mahela Udawatte, 5 Ashan Priyanjan, 6 Dasun Shanaka, 7 Seekkuge Prasanna, 8 Thisara Perera (capt.), 9 Sachith Pathirana, 10 Jeffrey Vandersay, 11 Lahiru Gamage in that order in the batting line-up. Both Munaweera and Gunathilaka are hard hitters of the ball. Gunathilaka has played some pulsating knocks including a half century that helped Sri Lanka defeat India in the ICC Champions Trophy in a tall scoring affair. Munaweera, though of lesser exposure, has come good a couple of times with some durable knocks and the pair fronting together in the opening slots looks quite formidable with debutant Sadeera Samarawickrema at No.3 expected to produce a cameo knock in putting behind him the double duck hoodoo in his maiden two ODI outings against Pakistan. The rest of the batting with Mahela Udawatte to follow spiced with Perera, Ashan Priyanjan and Dasun Shanaka does make the batting look handy T20 stuff. The bowling too does pack experienced campaigners in Lahiru Gamage, the skipper himself and Jeffrey vandersay, Seekuge Prasanna and Sachith Pathirana upfront.

Pakistan (probable): 1 Ahmed Shehzad, 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Mohammad Hafeez, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt, wk), 7 Imad Wasim, 8 Faheem Ashraf, 9 Shadab Khan, 10 Hasan Ali, 11 Usman Khan

Sri Lanka’s T20 squad was put together hurriedly, and they might not be sure of their best XI yet.

Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Dilshan Munaweera, 2 Danushka Gunathilaka, 3 Sadeera Samarawickrama, 4 Mahela Udawatte, 5 Ashan Priyanjan, 6 Dasun Shanaka, 7 Seekkuge Prasanna, 8 Thisara Perera (capt.), 9 Sachith Pathirana, 10 Jeffrey Vandersay, 11 Lahiru Gamage

-The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Sri Lanka Cricket-