Sri Lanka must identify and support the right players for the World Cup, says Kumar Sangakkara 

Sanga wants the island nation to stick to their best talent in the period of strife.

Kumar Sangakkara | Getty

Former batting legend Kumar Sangakkara has said that there is a genuine need for the Sri Lanka Cricket(SLC) selectors and administrators to stand by their players in the time of struggles and poor on-field results, which they are going through right now. 

"Sanga" as he is fondly called, wants the island nation to leave behind the disastrous campaign that they had in the ongoing Asia Cup and try to move forward by giving all the confidence and backing to the best talent available in the build-up to the ICC Cricket World Cup in England next year. 

"We need to find out whether we have the right strategy in place. Whether we should change it or stick to it." Sangakkara was quoted saying, "Results on tours are important, but the larger picture should be the 2019 World Cup. We need to have a settled batting lineup." he reiterated, "We need to identify the openers, identify who our number three is going to be and who is going to bat at number six and things like that."

Before adding, "Those players whom we have identified need to be given an extended run. You need to have specific chats with players explaining what is expected of each of them."

Earlier, reacting on the move to sack him from the captain's position by Sri Lanka Cricket(SLC), Angelo Mathews has said that the board made him a "scapegoat" in the aftermath of country's absolutely poor performance in the ongoing Asia Cup. 

Sri Lanka replaced Angelo Mathews and officially appointed right-hand batsman Dinesh Chandimal as their One-Day Internationals Captain, after asking the former to resign. 

While Sanga didn't want to go into the administrative matters, he still said that Sri Lanka must try to build by providing the consistency in terms of selection to each and every player that's part of the system. 

He said, "The confidence levels drop if they are moved up and down. You need to identify the engine room of the batting lineup from number one to four and others should play around them. With two new balls, your openers are vital. Number three and four are very important as well and they have to shoulder most of the burden in batting." and continued, "Then, of course, number five and six, they need to be able to accelerate and, in case if there’s a top order collapse, they should be able to steady the innings. They need to clarify the roles and have an idea what is required of each player,"

"Why they have inconsistent results is that they are yet to get settled. They need to build a team culture, a team strategy. They need to persevere with a set of players consistently for the biggest tournament in cricket." he concluded. 

(Inputs from Hindustan Times)

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 26 Sep, 2018

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