Charuka Alahakoon
Sachithra Senanayake continued to impress at the top of the order for SSC. His unbeaten 96 for SSC secured a convincing 5 wicket win over Ragama CC and takes his team to the semifinals of (SLC) Major Limited Over Tournament.
This was his third half century to go along with a amazing century in just 5 innings in the tournament, as he went to the top of the run scorers list in the tournament with 406 runs and the second highest wicket taker in the tournament (16 wickets).
What ever huge scores or great bowling figures achieved while playing in Sri Lankan slow pitches and may be facing ordinary bowling attacks only should not be taken into consideration to select a player for the WC. We know how difficult is our in form and talented batters as well as bowlers currently playing in SA to adjust their techniques to perform well on fast, bouncy and seaming tracks while facing accurate quick bowlers who consistently bowl at 145+kph speeds.
The provincial tournament arranged from 4th to 11th April is a good thing as we need need few more matches before we select our final squad. But we have to be careful not to again select some batsmen who were rejected recently for the SA tour due to slow scoring and not performing to the highest batting standards required in this years WC, if they come up with huge scores in this tournament.
I agree with the fact that a player shouldn’t be selected for the world cup only base on performance in slow pitches in Sri Lanka against ordinary/ weak bowling attacks. However, Sachithra’s recent exceptional batting form is something that we haven’t seen from him before. Almost all of our international players who are not part of the current tour of South Africa are participating in the current Limited Over Tournament.
Sachithra’s batting form has been better so far in the tournament comparing to some of our international batsmen like Chandimal, Asela Gunaratne , Milinda Siriwardana, Dasun Shanaka, Chamara Kapugedera , Ashan Priyanjan, Danushka Gunathilaka, Thirimanne, Dimuth Karunaratne ( He has played just 1 inning though) etc.
This is the scorecard of the Quarter Final.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/8832/scorecard/1176419/sinhalese-sports-club-vs-ragama-cricket-club-1st-quarter-final-premier-limited-over-tournament-2018-19
We all know Sachithra’s prowess as a batsman and having a safe pair of hands. He was always have been a very good fielder and had that mystery about his bowling. Who can forget his bowling against New Zealand and India during 2014 T20 world cup. His batting against South Africa in 2012 where he hit the winning six on the penultimate ball.
But when he got reported 2014 in England it all changed, he never the same again. It’s quite disappointing to see what has happened to someone whom we all thought going to be a readymade all rounder featuring in the shorter format. He is never going to be a test bowler.
Obviously he is having a very good run with the bat at the minute probably has hit a purple patch. Its all good when he is making runs but his main role as a bowler against a tough opposition will remains to be seen. Which we all be able gauge where he is at during the provincial tournament.
For Srilanka sake I sincerely hope he has discovered his magic because we need him. It’s no use having a run of the mill off spinner who is not going to be effective when he doesn’t have many variations. As we see so many mystery spinners going around in other countries and see what they can bring to the table.