Abu Dhabi: Perhaps the only plus for the Sri Lanka team, in the heartbreaking home series against India where they were routed in all formats, was the performance of comeback man Lahiru Thirimanne during the latter part of the ODI series.
The 28-year-old, returning to the side after almost 18 months, made a solid 80, 18 and 67 in the last three ODIs he figured in.
Though the knocks were for a lost cause, the performance was enough to draft Thirimanne in for the Test series against Pakistan and to hand him the vice-captain’s duties.
The southpaw, after an absorbing training session at the Shaikh Zayed Cricket Stadium said that he is confident of building on his form in the Tests against Pakistan starting on Thursday.
“I want to get all my experience into play and for me it is not about me but all about the team. My ODI experience obviously has been good but this is a team game and so we have to help each other. I will have to take responsibility, help young players and then we can definitely improve,” said the left-hander, who was part of the Sri Lanka team that lost to Pakistan 1-0 in the Test series here in 2011.
“The difference between the team that played here before and now is, that we don’t have Mahela [Jayawardene] and [Kumar] Sangakkara in the side. At the moment, we have some experienced players and some very young players which is a big difference. But I would say we have a great chance to prove how good we are and we all are very much looking forward to this tour,” said Thirimanne, who played 26 Tests in five years since his debut in 2011 and was left out after averaging 24 with one century and four fifties.
A 9-0 drubbing on the trot at the hands of India drew a lot of criticism including allegations of corruption but Thirimanne is of the view that he and his teammates are unfazed.
He accepts the team were way below par in their approach against India but said they have worked on the grey areas heading into the series against Pakistan.
“Morale is still really good because we all know we didn’t play to our potential in India. Obviously, it’s about the mindset and lifting your game which we have spoken already. We had a training camp in Sri Lanka for six days and had a really good camp. We have done what we want to do and that’s about it. At the end of the day we all know the need to perform at this level,” said Thirimanne, whose ODI average is slightly better than in the Test (35.24) and has four centuries from 110 matches.
The performance from the seniors will be key to the outcome of the series against Pakistan and they should make the most of the experience gained when they played with Sangakkara and Jayawardene in these conditions, felt Thirimanne.
“Dinesh Chandimal, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva, Rangana Herath and I have the experience. Our experience will be really important on this tour. Angelo Mathews will be missed but we have Sadeera Samarawickrama and Roshen Silva who have had really good domestic seasons. I think there is a very good chance of playing someone in this Test match. Either of them, if they get a chance, can build their careers.”
