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*Official* Pakistan in Sri Lanka 2014
- Thread starter James
- Start date
viriya
International Captain
Maximas
Cricketer Of The Year
Our team is built on 2 pillars right now, Sanga and Herath, this match shows just how important they are to the team, both are within 2 years of retirement IMO, it's scary
Migara
International Coach
Kaushal Silva is just away from a one big series. He will be respectable if he can concentrate for more than one session. The **** shot is inevitable at the beginning of each 2nd session for him. Interesting to see how long Mathews' god mode continues. Chandimal should be brought back ASAP. Vithanage looks too sloggy for being a test batsman. Dikwella as good as the keeper, and should be persisted till PJ makes a return.
I would dealy love Mathews to open the innings with Kaushal Silva, that would be a one heck of a combination, and for Saga to move down to 4 once MJ retires.
Mathews, Silva, Thirimanne, Sanga, Chandimal, Upul Tharanga, Dikwella / PJ would be my line up for a series in near future
Maximas
Cricketer Of The Year
Never really understood the calls for Matthews to open, yeah he plays pace well, but his ability to bat with the tail and soak up pressure is unrivaled and surely best utilised at 5 or 6 where he has had success and is comfortable? If the selectors went back to Dimuth and either dropped Tharanga or tried him at 6 our openers would be set again
YorksLanka
International Debutant
Fully agree.I don't think dimuth did anything wrong to be dropped and although I do think tharanga is OK,he is better in the middle order.Mathews should bat at 5 imo
Maximas
Cricketer Of The Year
Pakistan in Sri Lanka 2014 : Karunaratne returns to Test squad | Cricket News | Sri Lanka v Pakistan | ESPN Cricinfo
Dimuth back in the squad, good to see, if he gets a game and performs hopefully he'll be opening in NZ too, Tharanga would really struggle there IMO. Would love to see Tharanga given a go at 6 though, Vithanage doesn't really appear to be test quality, Thirimanne is also in the sqaud I think, he might get a game too
Dimuth back in the squad, good to see, if he gets a game and performs hopefully he'll be opening in NZ too, Tharanga would really struggle there IMO. Would love to see Tharanga given a go at 6 though, Vithanage doesn't really appear to be test quality, Thirimanne is also in the sqaud I think, he might get a game too
Maximas
Cricketer Of The Year
Tharanga is one of the most talented batsmen in the country, plus he came into the side on the back of good domestic and 'A' team performances, I don't really blame them for wanting him in the side, it's just a shame they persist with him as an opener.
Dimuth has had a tough introduction, and Sri Lankan batsmen are generally slow learners at test level coming out of our ****ty domestic comp, but it was disappointing when he got starts against poor attacks such as Bangladesh and he failed to go on, but the starts he got against the good attacks were invaluable. Worth noting Dimuth-Silva has been the second most successful opening pair since 2011, and I think the consistency of this pair was very much a part of the recent success of Sanga and Matthews down the order
Dimuth has had a tough introduction, and Sri Lankan batsmen are generally slow learners at test level coming out of our ****ty domestic comp, but it was disappointing when he got starts against poor attacks such as Bangladesh and he failed to go on, but the starts he got against the good attacks were invaluable. Worth noting Dimuth-Silva has been the second most successful opening pair since 2011, and I think the consistency of this pair was very much a part of the recent success of Sanga and Matthews down the order
Prince EWS
Global Moderator
The case for Mathews to open pre-dates your arrival here. It used to be a lot stronger because back then Mathews actually played some quite poor innings with the tail and was visibly much better against pace than spin -- not to mention the fact that Chandimal was being kept out of the team so Paranavitana could play because the latter was an opener.
It made a lot of sense back then, and I supported it at the time. It makes a lot less sense now though, and in fact the main argument against it back then was the fact that Sangakkara, Jayawardene and Samaraweera didn't have much time left anyway and that Mathews would soon need to move to four or five to cover them.
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Flem274*
123/5
Sri Lanka are a bit ****ed then.
Their fascination with players who won't succeed (Tharanga, Mendis, Lakmal) holds them back. Give them half a chance and they'll retrieve Dilhara Fernando from wherever he is nowadays.
hendrix
Hall of Fame Member
Lakmal doesn't belong in that group and anyway, playing a pacer rather than playing 3 spinners, 2 of whom come under the mystery category (read: they don't know wtf to bowl) is a better long term solution. Lakmal might not prove good enough but no way is his selection holding back SL.
viriya
International Captain
Vithanage's numbers are bloated he just has a ton vs Bangladesh. Tharanga has much more potential to make a difference. Not saying he will do a lot more though.
OverratedSanity
Request Your Custom Title Now!
Agree with your overall point but I think Lakmal has something about him.
OverratedSanity
Request Your Custom Title Now!
What happened to Welegedera btw? Remember him getting a big bag in SA a couple of years back but he's hardly played since then
Maximas
Cricketer Of The Year
If we isolate talent from other traits like hard work, technique and mental application Tharanga is one of the most talented and Sanga is arguably quite a way down the list, I was not trying to imply Tharanga is one of our best prospects, particularly as an opener.
Yeah, Vithanage's numbers are completely bloated by his first two games against Bangladesh where he scored in very low pressure situations on flat decks, averaged over 70 before the SA series iirc.
You're delusional, only Eranga and perhaps Prasad with his recent resurgence can be considered better bowlers than Lakmal. I've not seen any decent argument or reason why you and PEWS don't rate him, would love to hear it though.
Was pretty much non-stop injured throughout 2013 and has only regained fitness shortly before the England tour, given his age and what he brings to the table (unreliable military mediums with occasional good reverse swing/seam movement) he is down the pecking order, still in the squad for the last few series' though.
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