Think someone needs to rehab Kaushal and real fast. Sharpest turn since M&M and fast too. Kaushal, Sandakan and Baron Von with his leg spin could be a handful. And from the brief videos that Hashan clone does seem to have an attitude and twirl as well.
Who after Herath as Sri Lanka's frontline spinner?
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08-12-2017, 10:44 PM
Kaushal has a bustling run up to the crease.....may be the reason for overstepping as well. He might as well slow down a bit which might help with his control.
08-13-2017, 01:07 AM
Kaushal cut a desperate figure at the other end. He was so eager, he was too quick through the air. He strained so hard for a little extra bite that in one over, he overstepped four times. No spinner had delivered that many no-balls in an over since 2002. Herath was almost massaging the pitch - in search of a sweet spot or two that might do something for him. Kaushal was shaking the surface for all it was worth.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/sri-lanka-v-west-indies-2015-16/content/story/929635.html 08-24-2017, 01:37 AM
When Sri Lankan cricket first beamed on television in the 1980s, our living rooms were filled with Papare music. That sound was nearly absent as India pummelled Lanka 3-0 in a ridiculously one-sided Test series that ended 14 August.
In its place is a void. In the land of Sanath Jayasuria, Aravinda de Silva, Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, cricket has lost its soul. In 2015, when India won 2-1, the last two bid farewell. Lankan cricket has been trying to find their replacements ever since. At the start of the 2017 series, Lanka faced the question: Who after Rangana Herath? India had played the left-arm spinner well on the 2015 tour, barring the Galle Test. After picking seven wickets for 48 runs and consigning India to a stunning defeat, he managed another eight wickets for 350 runs in four innings thereafter. In this 2017 series as well, Herath got just five wickets for 347 runs in three Indian innings across the first two Tests in Galle and Colombo. The 39-year-old led his country in the first Test last month (in Dinesh Chandimal’s absence) and this question about his successor was posed to him. “I am still enjoying Test cricket and I haven’t thought about retirement. But look at Malinda Pushpakumara’s first-class record. I think he should be playing Test cricket right now, whether I am retired or not,” he had replied. Ahead of the second Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club, a big banner went up on the gates of Lumbini College in Colombo. It had Pushpakumara’s name, in big and bold letters, a good-luck message for their alumnus’ 100th first-class match and Test debut. After the defeat at Galle, Lanka bit the bullet, fielding both left-arm spinners, Herath and Pushpakumara, in the second match of the series. “We have seen them play together for our club, if only for a small period of time. When Herath was called up for international cricket, Pushpakumara stepped up for the club team and was an automatic replacement. It is not surprising that he has been lined up for the same job in Tests as well,” says Mahesh Weerasinghe, coach of the Colombo-based Moors Cricket Club. Thirty-year-old Pushpakumara’s record makes him an obvious choice. Prior to the two Tests against India, he had a first-class record of 558 wickets in 99 matches at an astonishing average of 19.85. But he had to wait until his current ripe age (by sporting standards) to get a look-in. Not many teams will put two similar bowlers in the playing XI. But that isn’t the only factor. “There is a fascination for mystery spinners in Sri Lanka,” says Rushan Jaleel, strategic coach of Trinity College in Kandy, where Sangakkara played his formative cricket. “While Muralitharan was around, they didn’t feel the need to invest in a proper partner. When he left, Herath came in, and the same process, unsurprisingly, was repeated. We have had a few ‘mystery’ spinners tried out in between, but no proper replacements have been groomed.” Players like Upul Chandana, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Angelo Mendis, Seekkuge Prasanna and Tharindu Kaushal figure on this list, which doesn’t focus on the problem. “Pushpakumara’s chance has come after so long. Being the same kind of bowler as Herath has been an obvious impediment. But when there are no other players performing consistently, why not give him a chance? That’s because Lanka’s selection policy doesn’t follow a pattern any more,” says Weerasinghe. With Herath sitting out of the third Test due to an injury, the selectors picked Pushpakumara as well as left-arm leg-spinner (or chinaman) Lakshan Sandakan, 26, in Kandy. The duo bowled well enough on Day 1, restricting India to 329-6 at stumps before Lanka lost control of the match. They have both been picked for the ongoing One Day International/Twenty20 series of the 2017 tour. Perhaps it is planning-in-disguise for the next chapter of spin-era in the Emerald Isle’s cricket history. Will Pushpakumara and Sandakan be around the next time India come calling? http://www.livemint.com/Sports/IiqxlbYg7fbYkyLCqYLhxN/Who-after-Rangana-Herath.html 08-24-2017, 02:13 AM
I think, it's the decline of mendis and dhananjaya,that has hurt Lanka the most, coz they stopped evolving and didn't add any new variations, also both got easily under pressure, so that is why lankan bowling is in a rot.
08-24-2017, 02:25 AM
Akila was dropped after that initial success. Should have tried him in ODI back then. I don't think he was given even 5 ODIs in 2012/13. He was definitely not ready for Tests. Mendis has a recurring back injury. He can't bowl the off break (which actually turns) because of that.
08-24-2017, 08:25 AM
Akila had a problem with his action. I think it was remodelled sometime back.
08-25-2017, 03:07 PM
The Sri Lankan cricket team have introduced a lot of mystery spinners to the world over the years. However, only Muttiah Muralitharan has been able to live up to that tag throughout the career. Ajantha Mendis looked like the real deal but gradually faded away as batsmen began to pick his deliveries.
Chinaman bowler Lakshan Sandakan has also shown early signs of promise but it remains to be seen how he fares ahead. However, the latest sensation is Akila Dananjaya who singlehandedly almost helped Sri Lanka to victory with his spell of 6/54 in the second ODI against India at Pallekele. When we dig deeper into his career, everything about him seems to be a mystery. Even his name – Mahamarakkala Kurukulasooriya Patabendige Akila Dananjaya Perera. The most interesting aspect about Dananjaya’s career is that that he was fast-tracked into the Sri Lankan squad without having any first-class, List A, T20I or U-19 cricket experience. Dananjaya had only been playing tier-three school cricket for the little-known Mahanama Vidyalaya when he was called upon for a net session with the Sri Lankan squad ahead of Pakistan's tour in 2011. Little did he know that the session would eventually go on to shape his career. The Sri Lankan legend Mahela Jayawardene, along with coach Graham Ford, were very impressed with what they had seen. They saw he had seven variations up his sleeve including the leg-spinner, googly, the doosra and the stock off-spinner. They asked him to work on his consistency and line and length a bit. He was then selected to play for the Wayamba United in the Sri Lankan Premier League under the tutelage of skipper Mahela Jayawardene. He impressed everyone there. By the time he got picked in the 2012 World T20 squad at Jayawardene’s recommendation, he already had picked up 7 wickets at an average of 11 and economy rate of 4.81 in the SLPL. This raised many eyebrows as it gave rise to a rumor mill surrounding him. Some suggested he had got into the squad with political help whereas some said it was with the help of money. Little did they know he was the son of a carpenter from Panadora, just south of Colombo. And for an 18-year old kid with not-so-well-off background to take such measures seemed too much. Jayawardene didn’t hesitate to give Dananjaya his debut cap in the 2012 World T20 pool match against New Zealand. He didn't have to wait long for his maiden international wicket as he had Martin Guptill caught at long off in the third ball of his career. An aggressive drive from Rob Nicol struck him fiercely in the nose a while after. However, he continued bowling even after that, with a cotton pad up his nose to stop the bleeding. He had Nicol caught at deep mid wicket in the very next over and ended up with figures of 2/32. "I just wanted to give him a game early on so that his jitters are over. He bowled really well and came back even with a knock. Good that he got a game under the belt. He’s a competitor. When he got hit I went to him thinking he was gone for the game. He said, ‘Shit, I missed that catch.’ And he was bleeding from his nose. That’s his attitude." - Mahela Jayawardene as quoted by ESPNCricinfo Dananjaya couldn't play in the next match due to that injury and gradually fell out of favour with the selectors as Jayawardene retired. He spent five years in exile from the Sri Lankan squad. However, he was called back to the ODI squad for the Zimbabwe series. He impressed with figures of 4/47 in the fifth ODI. His spell of 6/54 against India couldn't help his team to victory as he didn't get able support from the other bowlers. The batsmen will gradually start to pick him with time. Video analysis behind the scenes have already begun. He will have to keep improving his game to always stay one step ahead. He is only 23 years old and has a lot of time ahead. However, It remains to be seen whether he goes on to become legendary like the great Muralitharan or gradually fade away like Ajantha Mendis. https://www.thequint.com/cricket/2017/08/25/akila-dananjaya-mystery-spinner-india-vs-sri-lanka 08-25-2017, 11:10 PM
There is a lot of hype on Akila Dhananjaya all of a sudden. We need to be careful he doesn't go the same way as Ajantha Mendis. Don't think he has any mystery about him but he has some very good variations which he put to good use in the last match. It's matter of sustaining that by working on his bowling as he goes along.
08-26-2017, 10:03 AM
Mahela gets a lot of praise for picking up Akila from obscurity. But at the end of the day, wasn't he picked for the wrong format to debut, T20?
I think because of that he was relegated back to the doldrums where we didn't here from him for a long time. |
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