PALLEKELE: Like almost all the departments of their cricket, fast bowling too seems to be an area where Sri Lanka are struggling to replace a great. After
Lasith Malinga quit Test cricket, the Lankans seemed to have found decent pacers in
Dhammika Prasad and
Nuwan Pradeep, who looked impressive while taking six wickets against India in an innings in the first Test at Galle. Both, however, are injury-prone and keep missing games regularly.
On the opening day of the third Test against India, the conditions at the
Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
seemed helpful for pacemen, but
Lahiru Kumara wasted that opportunity by spraying the ball around. It must be remembered here, though, that Kumara is only 20, and this was his eighth Test, and only the 11th first-class game of his life.
After play on Day One, Lankan bowling coach
Chaminda Vaas, who led the new-ball attack for the islanders for almost 15 years with great success (355 wickets in 111 Tests), felt that the only way to help the current crop of pacers was to make helpful pitches for them in first-class cricket. It's an issue which has often been discussed in Indian cricket as well.
"We can't be satisfied with the way our first-class cricket is. We need to make it work for our fast bowlers. We talk a lot about what ails our first-class cricket, but no matter how much we talk, the issue hasn't moved forward. If we want to develop our cricket and increase the number of fast bowlers we have - if we want to do justice to our cricket - we need to make pitches that are suited to fast bowlers. If we do that, I trust that our bowlers would be better off than they are now," said Vaas.
The 43-year-old also emphasised the need for Lanka to be patient before their fast bowlers start delivering results. "Yes, we have good fast bowlers, but Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) needs to wait for some time. They need to give some time to these fast bowlers. They haven't played much cricket. If you see the Indian fast bowlers they have played about sixty games. We need to be patient before expecting results from these seamers," says the former left-arm pacer.
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