Sri Lanka’s T20I captain, Dasun Shanaka, wants Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to serve more sporting wickets in the shortest format of the game. Intent has taken over world cricket, but surfaces in Sri Lanka often don’t even allow a 180 vs 180 game.
Before Sri Lanka opens their T20 World Cup 2026 campaign against Ireland on February 8 at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Shanaka has advocated for more high-scoring surfaces at home.
“I think in this World Cup, the ICC has told the ground staff that they have to leave a certain amount of grass on the pitch. Because of that, I think the number of dismissals will fall. Eventually, I’d like to get a good track on which to show how I can bat, because it’s harder to showcase my striking ability on turning wickets. Lots of people see me negatively because of this,” Shanaka told reporters in Colombo.
Shanaka wants flat wickets
In the recently concluded series against England, Sri Lanka weren’t able to chase down 129. The game saw just 244 runs scored in 39.3 overs. Previously, Sri Lankan captains have asked for batting-friendly pitches, but SLC hasn’t rolled them out, as Sri Lankan spinners have the quality to win matches at home.
“Recently, we’ve had a lot of issues with the pitches. I know the middle order hasn’t performed well. If you want to know why that happened, you should look at the kind of pitches we played on. You’ll be able to figure out why the strike rates are low, and we’re losing wickets. I was only recently reappointed as the captain. I didn’t know what the plan was before that. In my opinion, I’d like to play on flat tracks. Yes, we have some good spinners in our side, but at the same time, other teams also have quality spinners. I think giving 50-50 wickets will help in the future. I’d like to bat on flat tracks,” he added.
Urges to follow India
Just next door, in India, scores of 200 have become the norm. India has crossed the 250 mark a few times under the new regime of Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir. Shanaka wants SLC to take note and move forward in that direction.
“If you look at India, you will see how good the pitches they play on are. Some people have a problem with India scoring so many runs and ask why Sri Lanka can’t do the same. It totally depends on conditions. You’ll be able to assess what the numbers in the World Cup are and what the previous numbers were. I think this will be a good tournament for our batters,” he concluded.
