Sri Lankan spinner Maheesh Theekshana finds it tougher to bowl without injured all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga, as he is now leading their spin attack, which makes his job more challenging. The Sri Lankan star Hasaranga has been sidelined from the ODI World Cup 2023 because of a hamstring injury.
In the ODI format, Theekshana and Hasaranga have established a dynamic partnership.
"It's challenging because he was our main bowler who took wickets. So, sometimes I have to be the main bowler, and sometimes he is. The other bowler keeps pressure on the batsmen," Theekshana explained after Sri Lanka lost to Afghanistan by seven wickets on October 30.
"When asked if adding another spinner to bowl with Theekshana would be a good idea, the 23-year-old replied, "Our middle-order batsmen have not performed well, so we can't reduce the number of batters. Also, we can't add more spinners because the pitch is favourable for batting."
"Currently, due to the conditions, we can only have one spinner in the team because the pitches are favourable to batsmen, and there's not much spin. This situation is a good challenge for me, and I see it as a chance to prove myself," he further explained.
Speaking about the squad depth among the spinners experience-wise, Theekshana opined, "We only have Wellalage and Dushmantha as alternative choices. Although they are experienced, if the pitch is good for batting, it could lower their confidence. In this tournament, we can't simply bring in a new player. We can't overload one player with too much responsibility because of the pitch conditions."
"If the opposing team scores around seventy runs and takes six to seven wickets, it will hurt our confidence. We can't afford to take such a risk."
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's middle-order batters have struggled in the ongoing tournament, leading to frequent batting failures. "We need to get better at our batting, especially in the middle part of the lineup. We have the skills, and we're committed to making those improvements in our future matches. I'm confident that our fielding has already gotten a lot better."
"Our struggle in the middle part of the game had a big impact on our loss to Afghanistan. When it comes to bowling, we had chances to take more wickets, but we didn't make the most of them as well as we wanted," he explained.
(Powered by AI, inputs from PTI)
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