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| Wednesday, 21 July 2004 |
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'Flu affects Lankan team selection by Sa'adi Thawfeeq The Sri Lanka cricket team has been affected by a different kind of flu not of the flying variety which was so common in countries like Hong Kong, Thailand, Cambodia, China and Vietnam. With the second phase of the Asia Cup tournament commencing today Sri Lanka are fighting hard to put out 11 fit players for their second phase game against Pakistan at the R. Premadasa Stadium under lights. Three of their players went down with influenza during the night match against India at Dambulla on Sunday which Sri Lanka won by 12 runs. One of the victims skipper Marvan Atapattu said that he was getting better and hopefully 'okay' today. The others who are recovering from the effects of the 'flu are batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan and fast bowler Chaminda Vaas. There is also the fitness of the centrifugal force in the team Sanath Jayasuriya who was forced to miss the game against India following a side strain. "Sanath is basically okay. He did a bit of bowling at the nets today. I don't think at any cost a player like Sanath can be left out. He has contributed to Sri Lanka cricket not only with his batting but in bowling as well," said Atapattu. "If Sanath is fit he will be a definite starter. We will finalise the composition of the team tomorrow after having a look at the wicket. We will hang onto naming the side till the last moment," he said. Going by his standards Jayasuriya is very much short on runs, wickets and confidence in recent times. But Atapattu his long standing opening partner in Tests said: "Sanath is a match-winner who can come good at any time. He is a player with many talents and we as a team look forward to him to deliver in any department. He is quite capable of doing that." Atapattu said that if Jayasuriya plays he will open the innings because his success rate in that position is very high. Sri Lanka's win over India would have done a great deal to their morale for the rest of the tournament. Today they meet Pakistan, the defending champions having won the tournament four years in Dhaka. "We have played many matches against Pakistan but whether we have won or lost against them in the past doesn't really count," said Atapattu. "I think we should try and play to the best of our ability on the given day. That is what we will be concentrating on." Englishman Bob Woolmer said that coaching Pakistan was an enjoyable challenge which he hoped to continue for the next three years. Woolmer, the former England cricketer and former coach of South Africa replaced Javed Miandad as Pakistan coach after they lost the Test and one-day series to India. He said that Pakistan was looking forward to the clash with India in the Asia Cup, a match scheduled for Sunday at the R. Premadasa Stadium. "The whole of Pakistan cricket was upset that they lost to India. There is obviously a big desire to put that right and for Pakistan cricket to go forward," said Woolmer. The second match scheduled for today is between India and Bangladesh at the SSC. The captains and coaches of all four countries said that they would finalise the teams after assessing the state of the pitch prior to the start of play. The pitch it seems plays a big part in team selections. John Wright, the coach of India said: "The pitch is a major issue. Generally there are two aspects here. Opposition teams sometimes are not keen to give away whose playing. Sometimes they will have a good look at the wicket. Also when you get to the ground that is the best time to look at the wicket. From my point of view and Sourav's (Ganguly), we will like to look at it before the toss and get a fair idea before you name the team." |
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