Sri Lanka white-ball Skipper Dasun Shanaka before leaving Sri Lanka on Monday (4) for the ICC T20 World Cup in UAE and Oman (SLC)[/caption]
* The two Oman matches to decide two spots in the final SL XI
* Play two warm-up games against Bangladesh and PNG
* Preferred combination is two seamers and two spinners, says Mickey Arthur
By Ranjika Perera
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) held their pre-tour press briefing on the forthcoming T20 World Cup online on Saturday (2) with Head Coach Mickey Arthur and Skipper Dasun Shanaka being present for the occasion.
Arthur, answering the Sunday Morning Sports with regards to the combinations they are looking for, at the World Cup, said; “We are lucky to have a flexible team. It is a big advantage that we have players who can do various roles.
“We have been monitoring the pitches in the UAE and are keeping a close eye on how the pitches are behaving in the (ongoing) IPL (Indian Premier League) matches. When you look at Sharjah, it’s holding up a bit. Depending on the conditions, we’ll rotate our players. But we would prefer playing two seamers and two spinners to start off with.”
With regards to Kusal Janith Perera’s fitness, Arthur assured that Perera is committed to become “match-fit as soon as possible”.
“He has played an intra-squad game and had a good partnership at the top with Pathum Nissanka. However, it is still doubtful that he would feature for the Oman matches.”
The two Oman games will be used to fill out two spots in the side that are still doubtful. After Oman, Sri Lanka will play two warm-up games between Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea (PNG) on 12 and 14 October.
Shanaka, responding to one of our questions, said; “The team is feeling confident after the coaching camp. We got time to reflect on our performance against South Africa but now the boys are feeling confident to move forward.”
The team left to Oman on Monday (4) to play the two practice games on 7 and 9 October (Thursday and Saturday).