Sri Lanka coach Mickey Arthur has had his eyes set on the developments in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League being played in the UAE as he believes his side will play on similar surfaces in the T20 World Cup scheduled to follow the Indian T20 tournament.
He also suggested the outlook of Sri Lanka’s team in the big tournament and hinted at the possible team selection calls to qualify for the main draw of the vent after being pushed down to the qualifying round. He said that there is a high possibility of playing two pacers and two spinner bowling combinations, but did not rule out the possibility of playing “ three out-and-out spinners”.
"I've been watching the IPL very intently because we're going to be playing on the same wickets [during the World Cup]. Looking at the conditions, we'll probably go two seamers and two spinners, and then our all-rounders, and potentially another part-time spinner from our top-order batsman. But we are flexible enough - if the wickets dry out considerably - to go with three out-and-out spinners,” Arthur said before embarking on the tour of Oman where Sri Lanka are scheduled to play two T20Is before the warm-up games and qualifying round of the T20 World Cup.
Arthur made bullish claims on “dramatic” improvements in the fielding department and a “very good” bowling attack but pinned the hopes of qualifying for the main event on the shoulders of batsmen. However, he also sought some bargain for his batsmen, who are “work in progress” and will learn the craft with maturity at the highest level.
He outlined the team’s preparation and highlighted the areas and ways of scoring they want to capitalise and said that Sri Lanka will be banking on employing sweep shots to get on the top of the bowlers. However, he did not downplay the “real art of batsmanship” of strike rotation and finding gaps in the shortest format.
"I think if our batting clicks it'll give us a really good chance because I think our bowling attack is very good and our fielding standards have improved dramatically. That is an area we've worked extremely hard on over the past nine days. We've had three practice games, we've had some skill sessions to prepare players to sweep, we identified where and how we want our players to play. We've almost scripted a game," Arthur added.
"We've been very clear in what we want our players to do in terms of our match practice, and then we've gone to nets after that, reviewed it and practised it. So, I'm really comfortable now that we have got better at it. But it's certainly a work in progress.”
“There's no magic wand here. It's easy to stand and try and hit boundaries, but having the ability to deflect a ball into a gap off a good ball is a real art. That's the real art of batsmanship. So, we've done a lot of drills during this phase, and we've harped on that. That's something I've been working on for the last nine months with our group."
Arthur’s emphasis on batsmen is understood as he had to swallow a “bitter pill” that came in the form of suspension of the experienced trio of Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis and Niroshan Dickwella, who were found guilty of breaching the bio-secure bubble in England. Calling their ban a big setback for the side, Arthur said that the absence of the trio meant that Sri Lanka were on the verge of going back to the drawing board while chalking out a strategy for the T20 World Cup.
However, he highlighted the window of opportunities that “adversity” of suspension opened up for other players such as Dinesh Chandimal, Charith Asalanka, Pathum Nissanka, Kamindu Mendis, who have been shown signs of being ready to grab the opportunity.
"That [the suspensions] was a massive blow for us. You're talking about three of your top-five batters in the white-ball format there. That was a bitter pill to swallow for sure. You suddenly got back to square one in terms of your planning again. It was really disappointing, but it led us to find the likes of Charith Asalanka, who has come on beautifully, Kamindu Mendis, who's playing beautifully, Pathum Nissanka probably got another opportunity again. It's allowed Dinesh Chandimal to come back into the mix. Bhanuka Rajapaksa to come back into the mix. So out of that adversity, it's allowed opportunities to other players."
With the experienced players missing, Sri Lanka’s chances with the bat are more reliant on the shoulders of Kusal Perera’s bat than it was before and it will be tricky for the ideas the former skipper has just made a comeback after injury. Arthur Provided an update on his injury and said the wicketkeeper-batsman has been showing no signs of injury while maintaining that his return will not be rushed which can make him vulnerable to further injuries.
Calling him one of their “major” players for the tournament, Arthur said that the left-hander will arrive in the competition in a “tip-top condition” but before that, his involvement will be limited to two out of the four games to ensure a smooth return to the international arena.
"absolutely no signs of injury" - though the plan was still to ease him back into the side. "He has been working unbelievably hard with the physio. He batted today, he went out and set up the innings beautifully with young Pathum Nissanka. He played an exceptional innings and showed absolutely no signs of any injury. We'll still take it slow with him because he's one of our major players. We'll have him in tip-top condition come the first game on the 18th. But how do we use him in the coming games? Perhaps he plays two out of four,” Arthur concluded.
Sri Lanka are set to play two T20Is against Oman on October 7 and 9 before starting the qualifying round of the T20 World Cup against Namibia, Ireland and the Netherlands.