‘I’d like to play on flat tracks’ – Shanaka links SL’s batting woes to spin-friendly pitches at home

Dasun Shanaka’s got 99 problems, and the pitch is also one. If cricket writers misappropriating Jay Z lyrics from 22 years ago is getting kind of old, so is the complaint, sadly. For years now, Sri Lanka’s captains have been campaigning to get more batting-friendly tracks on the island. For years now, surfaces have been given to substantial spin, depressing totals while envenoming spinners through the middle overs, especially.At the World Cup, though, a struggling Sri Lankan captain hopes his batters can perform on what he thinks will be better tracks. Sri Lanka arrive at this tournament fresh from a 3-0 bruising at home at the hands of England. Shanaka’s own returns in that recent series were modest. His scores were 20 off 16, 1 and 4.

“I think in this World Cup the ICC has told the groundstaff that they have to leave a certain amount of grass on the pitch,” Shanaka said. “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.”

In fact, there is no actual official requirement from the ICC regarding length of grass – it is only that there is greater pressure to produce surfaces conducive to good cricket (read: batting tracks) in global events.

In any case, Sri Lanka’s problems at home go back far further than the series against England, however. Since the start of 2024, Sri Lanka have lost 13 and won only nine T20Is at home. Previous captains – Charith Asalanka and Wanindu Hasaranga among them – had asked for flatter decks. But then Sri Lanka were having success on big turners in the ODI format.

“Recently, we’ve had a lot of issues with the pitches,” Shanaka said. “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.

Dasun Shanaka fell for low scores in the England series•Sameera Peiris/Getty Images

“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 future. I’d like to bat on flat tracks.”

Although Shanaka expects Sri Lankan surfaces to be better for batting, there may still be a gap between Indian tracks and Sri Lankan ones in this World Cup. Since the start of 2020, the T20I strike rate in India is 143 (the highest in the world), compared with 123 in Sri Lanka.

“If you look at India you will see how good the pitches they play on are,” Shanaka said. “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.”