Sri Lanka have lost Wanindu Hasaranga for the rest of the T20 World Cup, and that leaves an obvious gap. Hasaranga is not only their lead leg-spinner (a wrist-spinner who turns the ball from right-handers’ leg to off), he is also a proven lower-order hitter. The job of replacing him now falls to Dushan Hemantha, nine white-ball caps to his name and almost no time to ease in.
“To fill [Hasaranga’s] shoes is not going to be easy for Dushan Hemantha, but having said that, I think he has responded excellently well,” noted Sri Lanka fielding coach R Sridhar during a quiet media session on Saturday.
Hemantha’s World Cup debut against Oman hardly sparkled: 1 for 45 from four overs while Oman crawled to 120. Nerves, Sridhar insists, are part of the deal.
“I would be lying if I say that we are all absolutely spot on, every one of us will be nervous going to a World Cup, and so was Dushan Hemantha,” Sridhar said. “It’s human, it’s human. I think he’s responded brilliantly and he’s a terrific young bowler.”
Why persist with him after that start? In brief: unfamiliarity and variation. Few international batters have faced Hemantha; fewer still will have studied his googly or his slightly quicker flipper. That, in Sridhar’s eyes, is an edge.
“The advantage for him is not many have seen him or played him in the international circuit. He’s got some excellent variations up his sleeves which you may get to see tomorrow. He may bamboozle a few of the Aussie batters with his variations.”
Australia, who favour pace on hard surfaces, can be unsettled by spin that drifts and dips. Sri Lanka will almost certainly pair Hemantha with off-spinner Maheesh Theekshana, hoping the contrast of angles keeps batters guessing through the middle overs. On surfaces that already appear tired after back-to-back fixtures, the plan has merit.
For all the talk of his bowling, Sri Lanka also like Hemantha’s all-round package. “So he’s a gun on the field. He can bat, he can hit a long ball. So he is a very exciting addition to the squad,” Sridhar said. Even so, the coach stressed the pecking order.
“No player is ever selected only for his fielding in the XI, not even Jonty Rhodes,” Sridhar said. In other words: first you must justify the spot with bat or ball; fielding, though vital, sits third on the list.
That hierarchy has not stopped Sri Lanka from sharpening their work in the ring. Sridhar, hired on a contract that lasts only until the end of this tournament, has led extra sessions on angles, anticipation and – his favourite phrase – “channelising energies”. It sounds airy; it is mostly about commitment.
“Got them really connected to the bigger picture. Some inspiration as to why they wear this jersey and you know how people look up to them. That really worked. There’s some good athletes in the team, so that really helps [too].”
Australia remain favourites on paper, but World Cups have a habit of springing surprises. If Sri Lanka are to land one, they will need Theekshana to keep it tight, Hemantha to deliver those variations under lights and, crucially, the fielders to cling on when chances arrive.
It is a lot to ask of a player barely a dozen matches into his international career. Yet every tournament throws up a story no-one saw coming. Sri Lanka believe Hemantha could be theirs – provided, of course, those variations do the promised “bamboozling”.
