• In conversation with Sri Lanka Cricket’s Consultant Coach Mahela Jayawardena 

Sri Lanka have faced two demoralising defeats at the hands of South Africa and Pakistan in the team’s two opening games of the ongoing International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s Cricket World Cup tournament, and they are hoping for a change of fortune in Lucknow, India. 

The Daily Morning met with a man who needs no introduction – Sri Lanka Cricket’s Consultant Coach, former captain, and cricket legend Mahela Jayawardena – for a chat on the current affairs of the game. 

Following are excerpts from the interview.

Two losses so far in the competition and seven more games to go. How do you see Sri Lanka’s prospects in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup? 

Yeah, I think you always want to have a positive start in a World Cup. We came across South Africa, which was a strong side and they were playing some really good cricket at the start of the tournament. Especially on that Delhi wicket, on a small ground – the way it went was a bit of a disappointment but you have to take into account that we were beaten by a better team that day. 

It is a bit more disappointing with regard to the Pakistan game where we were playing positive cricket, which we’ve asked the guys to play, at the start of the tournament, because that is the tempo we need to maintain in this World Cup given the wickets in India and how the tournament was going. Sometimes, they’re not used to it (positive cricket), but we had to take that kind of approach, especially with a weakened bowling attack, which is what we were planning but it was disappointing that we couldn’t defend that score (344). We didn’t have the discipline with the ball, especially in the areas where we wanted to ball and protecting the short boundary, which we failed to do. And at the same time, in the fielding too, we probably need to have much more energy out there. I think in both the games, maybe because of the way we were bowling, it got depleted, but I think we’re a much better fielding unit than that. 

So, these are the areas we need to improve. Like I said, it would have been great to at least have one win under our belt at the beginning of the tournament and have that kind of momentum, but it’s a long tournament, so we need to think positively. We don’t know how the rest of the matches are going to go with the other teams. So we need to control what we can control, which is by winning a couple of crucial games and then getting ourselves into that 50% mark, which is five wins in a tournament so that you know you’re giving yourself a chance for that semi-final spot.

In terms of the batting combination, during the Qualifiers, Dimuth Karunaratne opened the batting and here, we have Kusal Perera and he’s not firing. Do you think there’s a problem with our combination? 

I think what happened was obviously that Kusal (Perera) went to New Zealand, played really well, and then got injured. So that was when we decided to go with Dimuth, bringing him back where we needed a bit more stability in that Qualifier, especially given the wickets that we were playing for the day matches in Zimbabwe. Tactically, it paid off; Dimuth was good so we knew that we could fall back on Dimuth whatever the situation was. So even in the warm-up games, I think Kusal did bat well. But, unfortunately, in the first two games, he looked off-base and off-colour. So that’s something we will have to think about. But obviously, having Dimuth, an experienced batter in our squad, works for us because that was a particular spot where, going into the tournament, we all knew we needed to have two options because you can’t have too many options. But we knew that we could still use Kusal as a floater in different positions in that lineup because he has the power and he plays spin well. 

So that was the thinking behind it because you can’t have too many reserves. We could keep only one extra batting reserve, so that was the plan. So, yes, like you rightly said, Dimuth is an option, having looked at the South Africa vs. Australia game, and how that wicket played, we have a few days to think about before we make a decision.

The lower middle order of Nos. 5, 6, and 7 have not been scoring runs in the recent past, especially Dhananjaya de Silva and Dasun Shanaka. Even during the Hyderabad game, they did not score runs as quickly as possible. How do you view this situation?

Well, it’s tough because the situations are different in every game. I mean, Charith (Asalanka) has been very good for us for quite some time. He is probably one of our most consistent players. And yes, he got a decent ball and that can happen after a big partnership.

DDS (Dhananjaya de Silva) is someone that we always bank on like when we had those collapses throughout the last 12 months. He’s been one guy who’s managed to lift his game up and rescue us from those situations. Yes, he might not have the power game that we want, but he can still hit the gaps and create that opportunity. We need stability and that was the whole reason we had those guys. We did lose a little bit of momentum in the Pakistan game, but cricket is a game that sometimes doesn’t work out, but I think we can’t be disappointed with the 345-350 mark, putting runs on the board on a slowish pitch in Hyderabad. We could have easily put pressure on that Pakistani lineup but it’s just that we lacked discipline in our bowling. 

As long as we can maintain this tempo we are playing at and everyone buys into it and plays without fear, then one component of our game becomes more consistent. We need to work on the bowling, and we knew, coming into the tournament, that it would be a depleted lineup, especially when you don’t have Wanindu (Hasaranga) and Dushmantha (Chameera), two experienced bowlers who’ve done well for us. Especially Wanindu, because he and Maheesh (Theekshana) always used to control things. Maheesh coming back from an injury is a positive but other elements in that attack are something that we need to sort out; that’s where the concerns are.

Is there a skill gap in the Sri Lanka team when you compare it with the other more experienced teams?

Yes, I mean, in any World Cup or any World Cup cycle, that is always going to be there. I mean, if you look at India, they won a World Cup in 2011 and then for 12 years, they haven’t won a World Cup. England had to wait for over 30 years to win a World Cup and that group is together. Australia had two or three successful World Cups, and since then, haven’t been able to hit the mark. Its because once you invest in younger players or groups, it takes a bit of time for them to get together and play. Pakistan hasn’t won a 50-over World Cup in a long time. 

In every team, even though they have talent, there’ll be issues and different skill sets with experience to consider for them to gel together and all that. That’s the combination you’re looking at – the right experience and the skill set. And that’s what we invested in two years ago. This group played two T20 World Cups together and this is their first 50-over World Cup. We had seven guys who played their first 50-over World Cup game. Unfortunately, we did not plan for guys like (Dunith) Wellalage and Matheesha (Pathirana) to have big roles in this World Cup. We wanted them to come into the squad and be part of the experience so that they would be played in certain situations only. 

Wanindu and Dushmantha would have been the two main guys and we would have had a great attack. Dilshan (Madushanka) has come a long way as a left-arm fast bowler and we’re very happy to have him because he’s a brilliant, skilled bowler. I see a lot of potential in him because he’s still raw. But every day, he’s learning and he’s a quick learner. If we can keep this group together, we will have the right component. 

I feel that championships are won with bowling, and not so much with batting. Bowling is the most important element in winning championships. So you need to build that bowling unit; that’s the path we’ve taken. Hopefully, we keep all these guys fit and healthy going forward.

To answer your question, yes, skill and experience. I think skill-wise, we’re not that far behind , but because of the experience part, yes.  

But having said that, if you just bring experienced players without skill to adapt to the modern-day game, it will not work so we had to have the right balance. It’s a plan that the selectors made two years ago, and I also backed that plan because then we have some direction in where we’re heading with this because you can’t be in limbo. 

Yes, it might be tough sometimes for us, but I think this group has shown that they have the potential – by winning an Asia Cup in the T20 format, getting into an Asia Cup final in the 50-over format – because we had to play two strong teams in Pakistan and India. In the last two T20 World Cups, I was a part of the team. We missed those semi-finals by one game. It was just one win; we’ve missed out against South Africa in the UAE and then against New Zealand in Sydney. So those are the two games that we should have won and otherwise, we would have been in the semi-finals. So we are close. But we just need to make sure that we back these guys and get them over the line.

Are we really pushing the “fitness regime” on the players? Because we’ve recently seen plenty of injuries among our players. 

It is alarming, but they also understand that they’ve let themselves go and if they do that, it’s their own fault, because they will get injured, and it has happened. So it’s a good lesson and it’s a culture change as well. We only started this fitness thing about a year and a half ago, and there’s a lot of opposition to that as well. 

But now, I believe, little by little, the players have also realised that it has to happen because they can’t compete at that level and be fit. We might not be able to change every player, but if we can start with the younger groups and the development squads and all that, we can at least  create a culture. 

For the first time, we have got a nutritionist working full time with all the national players and club players as well. We’ve got a sports psychologist too, a Sri Lankan guy – we’re trying to get him to work full-time but he’s had quite a few sessions with the players. So these are aspects that we need to improve. 

Technology-wise, we’ve managed to get all the modern-day analysis and all the software done. We’re getting the new catapult, which is arriving; I’m bringing it back next week. It just arrived in Colombo; it is the new GPRS system to monitor a lot of things – we can check the heart rate monitors and there are sensors with regard to fatigue levels of certain muscles, which can also be monitored, which then gives you data on where the players are and we are able to determine if they need a break or not, which we haven’t done for so many years. Some of the franchise teams use AI (artificial intelligence) now. 

Yeah, we’re so far behind on all that but at least we are starting, which is a positive thing and people understand that we need this. We just keep on improving on these things and get the right people involved who understand that as well. I mean, that’s the challenge that we have with coaches and everyone who needs to be involved – they need to have proper qualifications and the intelligence to run this. You can’t just come in and do it because if not, it won’t tally together, but we’re trying to do what we need to do.