Maheesh Theekshana likely to miss start of Super 12 stage

Mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana, one of Sri Lanka’s MVPs in the first round of the ongoing T20 World Cup, is set to miss the Lankans’ Super 12 clash against Bangladesh in Sharjah on Sunday owing to a side-strain. 

Bowling predominantly in the first half of matches, Theekshana took 8 wickets across 3 games in Round 1, and was integral to the dismantling of the Netherlands on Friday as he castled two of the top three batters.

However, according to Bhanuka Rajapaksa, the young spinner has a side strain and therefore ‘won’t be risked’ in Sri Lanka’s clash against Bangladesh.

"The physios have said the decision might be probably to leave him for the next game," Bhanuka Rajapaksa said on Friday.

“We don't want to risk it by playing him and then him not playing in the rest of the series. For the moment he will be missing the next game as far as I know. It's not 100% decided yet, but most probably, he will miss the first game and then play the rest of the games."

Theekshana was a weapon for the Lankans in Round 1, but so was the raw pace of their speedsters. The trio of Lahiru Kumara, Dushmantha Chameera and Chamika Karunaratne blew Namibia and Ireland off the park through sheer pace, and did the same against the Dutch on Friday. The wrecker-in-chief was Kumara, who was named Man of the Match for outstanding figures of 3/7 off 3 overs.

Rajapaksa said that it was a ‘benefit’ to have seamers with such raw pace, and at the same time lauded the Lankan spinners for complementing the quicker bowlers.

"I think it's such a benefit having two bowlers who are bowling above 90mph. Any batsman, they get shook because bowling at 145 [kph] plus and not having any room, just bowling good areas, it's always difficult as a batsman to get over.

"I think at the same time, the spinners have been extremely good for us, and they've been sticking to their basics, and that's one of the reasons why we have been winning throughout this tournament,” Rajapaksa said.

Sri Lanka were not fancied by everyone to make it through to the Super 12, but, as it turned out, they proved to be the most dominant side in Round 1. Rajapaksa said that the players are pleased with their performance, and insisted that the three wins will give them plenty of confidence heading into the Super 12 stage.

"It's always special to win games, whether it's playing against Associate teams or whether it's against good teams. Going forward, I think we'll be facing much harder sides than Netherlands, Ireland and Namibia, [but I'm] extremely happy that Namibia went through because being an Associate side. I think they played some good cricket, as well. Going forward this is some good confidence for the boys."

Sri Lanka will kick-start their Super 12 campaign against Bangladesh in Sharjah on Sunday, October 24.