Sri Lanka’s captain Dinesh Chandimal (File)
Not very long ago, home venues used to be fortresses for Sri Lanka and international fixtures were always well-attended. Things, however, have changed. The humiliating 3-2 home series loss against Zimbabwe was followed by a 3-0 Test whitewash by India. Little wonder then that home fans seem to have started to lose interest, as empty stands during the recently concluded Test series would confirm. The ODIs, commencing in Dambulla on Sunday, are expected to be better attendance-wise — all the more because the hosts have a lot to play for in this five-match series.
The ODI series loss against Zimbabwe has put Sri Lanka under pressure in terms of direct qualification for the 2019 World Cup. In a ten-team World Cup, seven top-ranked side, along with hosts England, will gain direct entry. The bottom four side in the ICC rankings will play a qualifier with the associates and top-two teams from the event will go to the World Cup. The cut-off date for direct qualification is September 30 and these are Sri Lanka’s last ODI assignments before that.
Sri Lanka are currently placed at No. 8 in the ICC rankings with 88 points, 10 points clear of their nearest rivals West Indies. But the West Indies will play a one-off ODI against Ireland and five ODIs against England from September 19 to 29. A clean sweep will take them to 88 points, while Sri Lanka’s points will come down to 86 if they lose 5-0 against India. Even a 4-1 defeat will see them fall behind the West Indies, provided the Caribbeans win all their matches. Sri Lanka will have to win at least two matches against India to secure direct qualification to the 2019 World Cup, because in that case they will finish with 90 points.
As per the ICC ratings, a lower-ranked team earns more points by beating a higher-ranked opponent. Similarly, the lower the opponents’ rating, more a team is penalised for losing to them. In the ODI and T20 international rating systems, each game is rated as a standalone event. India are currently ranked third in the ODIs with 114 points. They need a 4-1 series victory for status quo and not falling behind England.
Sri Lanka had been sitting pretty on 98 points just four months ago. Since May they have lost 10 ranking points. The series lost against Zimbabwe – their first against a lower-ranked side at home – alone cost them five rating points. Angelo Mathews, then Sri Lanka captain, had described that as “one of the lowest points” of his career. Just a few days ago, Sri Lanka’s Test skipper Dinesh Chandimal, too, spoke about how the Test series hiding against India was one of the worst of his career, but that’s history now. The very fact that the hosts can’t afford to fail miserably could make the one-dayers interesting.
Sri Lanka are always more comfortable in limited-overs cricket and they can take inspiration from their excellent seven-wicket win against India at the Oval in the Champions Trophy. Danushka Gunathilaka and Kusal Mendis’ 159-run second wicket partnership saw off a steep chase. Gunathilaka has returned for the ODIs after suffering an injury in the first Test against India. Mendis looked impressive at times, scoring a century in the second Test. But recalling all-rounders Thisara Perera and Milinda Siriwardana suggests that Sri Lanka want to fall back on experience, with the World Cup qualification at stake.
Perera was dropped after the Champions Trophy. Siriwardana’s last ODI was against Bangladesh in April. And Lasith Malinga will be there, maybe with the added motivation to prove his sports minister wrong.
Mathews to bowl
That Mathews can bowl a few overs is an option boost for the hosts. The former skipper had stopped bowling after he suffered a hamstring tear in January. “I don’t think I can bowl the full quota of overs but I will definitely be bowling. If I bowl the full quota, I might not be able to play the full series. So I need to manage my workload,” he was quoted as saying by a local newspaper. The team’s new captain, Upul Tharanga, would obviously like to have the services of someone, albeit part-time, who has accounted for 111 scalps in 187 ODIs.
