PAK vs SL | Senior players might now be scared after 'B' team's performance, says Danushka Gunathilaka
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Sri Lankan opener Danushka Gunathilaka believes that the places of some senior Sri Lankan players might be under threat after the performance of the youngsters against Pakistan. Despite being termed as a 'B' team, the Sri Lankan youngsters put up a flawless display to whitewash Pakistan in the T20s.
Ahead of Sri Lanka's tour of Pakistan, the focus was on everything but cricket. Talks about security, discussions about the venues and the decision of Sri Lanka's senior players to opt out of the series stole the limelight and the series was seen as nothing but an advertisement for the return of cricket in Pakistan, with the hosts expected to roll over the visitors comfortably.
Whilst they did so in the ODIs, winning 2-0, in the T20Is, however, a spirited Lankan side stunned the hosts by whitewashing them 3-0, with many a younger player shooting into fame with their performances. Danushka Gunathilaka, who was the Man of the Match in the first T20I, now believes that this performance by the younger Sri Lankan players will put the places of the senior cricketers in jeopardy and feels that many of them might even miss out in the T20Is against Australia.
"I don't think some of the senior players will go to Australia now because of this performance. And so the senior players might be scared for their places. At least 12-13 players from this side might go to Australia, that's what the selectors said," Gunathilaka told ESPNCricinfo.
Gunathilaka believes that the youngsters, with their performance in Pakistan, have now earned their place in the squad and feels that it would be unfair to dump them from the team after their heroics. He also drew the comparison with the series against New Zealand, stating how much better the Lankans fared against Pakistan.
"Those players that came and did well, they have to give them another chance. If not, it's very unfair. Those who didn't come, as Asantha [de Mel, the selector] was saying, their place is just not sure anymore in the team. After all, these players performed better than the Sri Lanka side did in the New Zealand series," he said.
Gunathilaka also rubbished the label of this being a 'B' side and said that now, after their performance, beating the number one side in the world, they are in fact the first team.
"A lot of people in Pakistan said this is our second team. It's not our second team at all, only a few players didn't come. Kusal was injured, Angelo was not in the last T20I squad.
"If you're talking about T20Is, only Dickwella and Malinga played the last T20 among the players that didn't come. So how can you say this is a B team? You can't ask for more. We beat the No. 1 team in the world. This is our first team," said the 28-year-old.
While the security arrangements in Pakistan were nothing short of world-class for the ODIs and the T20Is, citing safety reasons, the players were not allowed to leave their hotel rooms. The opener feels that in case of playing Test matches, players would need the freedom to be in a good mental space and feels that such a constraint might make it really hard for the players. He also lauded Pakistan's effort in hosting the series and empathized with them and believes that such unfortunate incidents can occur in any part of the world.
"They asked me in the press about a Test series. But from my point of view, you can't just play five days, come to the room each evening and go to the ground in the morning for five consecutive days. That's not fair. If you want to start Test cricket in the country, you have to have more freedom. Players will get stressed going from ground to room and room to ground. That's not possible. It's very hard," he said when asked about playing Test cricket in Pakistan.
"We feel really sad for them. I saw in the last few weeks how hard they've worked. Because of that one incident, no team wants to come to Pakistan. In Sri Lanka, 300 people died recently in a terror attack; what would happen if every team said they didn't want to come to Sri Lanka? It happened in New Zealand too, it can happen anywhere," Gunathilaka concluded.
