NEW DELHI: Spin bowling, one of the strengths of Sri Lankan cricket, seems to be losing its way in the turbulent phase of transition. In current circumstances, where
Angelo Mathews' team is barely a shadow of being the defending
World T20
champions, Rangana Herath is caught in the middle of an impending major shuffle in Lankan cricket.
The ageing Herath, the last of the crafty incisive spinners from Sri Lankan cricket's glory days, carries a responsibility of nurturing the next line of spinners and also the expectations of taking Lanka as far as possible in the tournament on the spin-friendly pitches in the tournament.
The incessant talk over the future of a visibly bulky Herath bothers the Sri Lankan camp. The next line of spinners hasn't inspired much. The wily left-arm spinner is in his last ICC tournament but the big call after that is yet to be taken. "I want to keep playing Test cricket. But that's a decision I need to take in three-four months," Herath said of his plans.
"I know there is a lot of expectation from me to perform according to the situation of the game - be it containing the batsmen or taking wickets. But I just see it as a responsibility. As most cricketers do, I also want to go out on a high," the 38-year-old said. The hesitant grin on his face doesn't support the optimism, though. There is a catch here. "We don't play much Test cricket. So to get him ready for a one-off match is tough and to let him go is equally tough," a member close to the Sri Lankan team told TOI.
History will tell you Sri Lanka has been breeding ground for exhilarating spin bowling. But the notion runs the risk of being confined just to the history books. The word going around in Lankan cricket is that the clampdown on illegal action has hurt the spin resources. "It's sad that we don't have any left-arm spinners after Herath. There are a few spinners around in our domestic circuit but they are not up there. They need time to improve," Lankan allrounder
Thisara Perera conceded.
Dinesh Chandimal, the man critical to Lankan batting post Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, shows his disgust at the word 'transition'. "We can't always say that we are in transition. We have enough experienced players now and we need to perform," he said on Friday.
Chandimal, asked if Herath is overburdened, names off-spinner
Sachitra Senanayake
and leg-spinner
Jeffrey Vandersay as backups. "We will have big expectation from Rangana. He is experienced enough to handle it. He can be more damaging in the next two games for us if Sachitra and Vandersay can also do their job."
The expectations are high and Herath would like to tweak the Lankan fortunes in the next few days by himself.