DJ
The current XI from Sri Lanka World Cup squad for the Match:
1.Dimuth Karunaratne(Left-Hand Batsman)(Captain)
2.Avishka Fernando (Right-Hand Batsman)
3.Lahiru Thirimanne(Left-Hand Batsman)(Vice-Captain)
4.Kusal Mendis (Right-Hand Batsman)(Wk)
5.Angelo Mathews (Right-Hand Batsman)
6. Dhananjaya de Silva (Right-Hand Batsman)(Right-Arm Off-Spin)
7.Thisara Perera (Left-Hand Batsman)(Right-Arm Medium-Fast)
8.Jeevan Mendis (Left-Hand Batsman)(Right-Arm Leg-Spin)
9.Isuru Udana (Right-Hand Batsman)(Left-Arm Medium)
10.Lasith Malinga (Right-Arm Fast)
11.Nuwan Pradeep (Right-Arm Fast-Medium)
Bench-
12.Kusal Perera (Left-Hand Batsman)
Are you crazy to bench Kushal Perera
Mostly due to him not being comfortable in English condition. Also considering Kusal Perea injury concern it is safe to say he won`t be playing all 9 games, therefore, he would miss one or two of them. Also, we already have some much vast experience players at the top order, therefore, we require a young youthful player that can be aggressive in the first 10 overs. When you consider the Australia warm-up match Sri Lanka were 44/1after the first 10 overs and that is not what we want therefore while Dimuth holds one end the other batsman must be attacking after the 5-6th over. Kusal Perea doesn`t seem to be timing the ball well in the last two warm-up games but Aviska Fernando seems to be in fine touch. Also, this will surprise the opposition by surprise as well.
The Main Point is this will be our First game and we don`t need all the experience we need some youthfulness aggression.
Also in all 3 warm-up games, Kusal Mendis was keep-wickets must longer than Kusal Perea. Which indicate that Sri Lanka Cheif Selector has the same idea.
Mind you this is the first game, and there are players like Angelo Mathews, Kusal Perea and Lasith Malinga who are injury prone. Therefore some might not play all 9 games.
Hey guys, just someone passing through. Saw the very constructive replies on this site and thought I should add my preferred lineup as well.
1)Dimuth Karunarathna
2)Avishka Fernando (I think one test opener is enough, too bad he didn’t get a bat in the warm ups)
3)Dananjaya De Silva (Doesn’t have enough power to bat late in the order, crying watching him trying to clear the fence with power, economical spinner)
4)Angelo Mathews (I would like him to bat as high up as he can, we tend to lose a wicket early and then a second wicket trying to catch up to the run rate before the power play ends, dont want that to be him )
5)Lahiru Thirimanne (Tends to nick the swinging ball, his okay form in the warm ups has him ahead of kusal perera)
6)Kusal Mendis (Although not a power hitter, has the ability to clear the fence with timing and play to a tempo as the situation requires)
7)Thisara Perera
8)Isuru Udana
9)Jeevan Mendis
10)Nuwan Pradeep
11)Lasith Malinga
I’m not a cricket pro. What are your thoughts?
It would be a huge mistake to not play KJP .But I think he shouldnt keep wickets as his movement looked very stiff and restricted in the wnd warm up behind the stumps . mendis should take up that duty .However please do not forget that players obviously take a bit of time to get their timing right when they come back from injury and let alone getting adjusted to the foreign conditions. He WILL come good very soon .However I just dont think hes best to play at the top and would rather be suited to play at no.6 behind the likes of mathews .It would invariably balance the XI more too .Also keep in mind that thirimanne is a much more aggressive batsman nowadays than what we remember him as .And the ball will be swinging early on in england so its best to have the guys with proper tecnique at the top or else youll see guys like boult having us 4 down for 20 in the first 10 overs .However all our top 4 batsmen should remember that though they need to be careful they need to show intent , with running between the wickets and hitting gaps and rotation of strike (can easily maintain a run rate of 5 rpo )
MY XI FOR THE NZ MATCH
1.D.Karunaratne
2.L.Thirimanne
3.D.De Silva
4.K.Mendis
5.A.Mathews
6.K.Perera
7.J.Mendis
8.T.Perera
9.I.Udana
10.L.Malinga
11.N.Pradeep
Dont worry too much about the first 10( only two fielders outside the 30yard circle) , because its more important to keep wickets in hand mainly due the the fact that its pretty much like a powerplay nowadays with just 4 fielders outside the 30yard circle from overs 10-40 so they can easily capitalize in those middle overs also because invariably the oppositions best bowlers will bowl in those first 10 , so we can wait till the changes come on and then get going .
I agree with the team proposed by SILLY POINT. However I would propose some changes in the batting order as follows.
1. Dimuth
2. Thirimanna
3. Kusal Mendis
4. Kusal Perera
5. Mathews
6. Dhananjaya
7. Jeewan
8. Thisara
9. Udana
10 Malinga
11 Pradeep
REASONS:
From the way we batted in the last 3 ODIs (including the match with Scotland) it was obvious that the fast scoring ODI openers are not going to give us a good start in current conditions. Only the power hitting openers from England are well trained to achieve these extraordinary strike rates to score even 400 runs during this years WC. We need to have our best & technically correct opening batsmen to open the innings (two top order test specialist batsmen are the best choices). During our last match with Australia, commentator Sanjay Manjrekar made a very valid comment on the batting of Thirimanna. He praised at the way he was batting in keeping the bat very close or in line with his body when facing very quick bowlers and went on to say further that Rohith Sharma of India should take a lesson from Thirimanna’s batting at the start of the innings. Even Avishka’s foot work is sometimes bad and he plays with the bat away from the body. Both Dimuth and Thirimanna should be opening when playing with stronger opposition having very quick bowlers (who bowls at 140+ kph speeds). However during the match with AFG (our 2nd match) & BD (our 4th match) we can try the combination of Dimuth / Kusal P as openers to see whether Kusal will perform well so that he can be used as our next option for any future matches. We should not worry much about Dimuth / Lahiru’s slow RR at the beginning as they are capable of increasing it tremendously (more than even100%) if they survive the first few overs.
Dimuth has to be very careful in playing risky, short & rising deliveries from quick bowlers as the opening bowlers will definitely target to get him out from this weak point of his, early in the innings.
As Kusal Mendis has performed well at no 3, I do not want to change that safe position for him.
For DDS I prefer no 4 and Kusal P at no 6, but as the former did very well at no 6 in the last match, the selectors may probably continue him at the same position. So I have proposed DDS at no 6 & Kusal P at no 4.
If our openers, middle order batters and the power hitting lower order batsmen always target to score team totals of at least 350 runs which is gettable, if they play according to their true strengths and approach a Game Plan in achieving the following Run Rates during the three different phases of the inning.
First 10 overs 80 Runs RRR 8.0
Middle 30 overs 170 Runs RRR 5.7
Last 10 overs 100 Runs RRR 10.0
TOTAL 350 RUNS
Prepared by
Susantha Jayawardena