Zimbabwe lands in Sri Lanka to play their first bilateral series in 15 years

The Zimbabwe team has landed on the shores of the island country Sri Lanka for a three-week tour today. The match itinerary includes a Test match and five one-dayers. It is the first time in fifteen years that the African nation has set its foot in the country for playing a bilateral series. Though they have visited the island during major ICC events in 2011 and 2012, this tour stands as a new challenge for them.

The series will start its proceedings with its first ODI at Galle on Friday. Zimbabwe had missed the Champions Trophy ship to England as they could not bag the mandatory points to qualify for the mega tournament. Lack of cricket has dented the country’s cricketing prospects. Also, rampant corruption within the board and crumbling infrastructure have left Zimbabwe marooned within the cricketing world.

In spite of being plagued by these problems, coach Heath Streak wants to move ahead. He is excited that Zimbabwe got a chance to tour Sri Lanka and is confident that they will harvest this opportunity to maximum benefits. He also talked about the slow resurrection of Zimbabwe cricket and the problems which have been haunting them for long.

Heath Streak excited in spite of problems

“It’s been a long time since we were involved in a bilateral series in Sri Lanka. We are looking forward for a competitive series and looking forward to some exciting cricket. We are rebuilding and part of our problem has been lack of cricket,” Heath Streak told journalists.

Zimbabwe’s ICC rankings have nose-dived and are placed below newbie Afghanistan in ODI’s at 11^th position. In Tests, the picture is grim as well as they are sitting at the 10^th spot. The next years are going to be extremely crucial for Zimbabwe. If they can’t change their fortunes and fail to qualify for the 2019 World Cup, their future can go the Kenyan way.

Coming back to the context, Sri Lanka’s picture is not sunny either. They have put a monkey on their back by sacking coach Graham Ford quite unceremoniously. Graham was their lone hope as he possessed a sound cricketing acumen. But he decided to part ways with the Board after the Sri Lankan authorities appointed Asanka Gurusinha as the head coach and deviated some responsibilities to him.

To cope with the loss, Sri Lanka elevated their fielding coach Nic Pothas to the position of head coach. He will function as coach till the home series against India. After that, the Sri Lanka Board will take a call on who the next coach will be. Nic was also granted a privilege to apply for the same after his short stint is over.

Sri Lanka appoints new coach

“Nic Pothas will function as the head coach for this series and the Indian series. We are confident that he will be able to do a good job,” Thilanga Sumathipala announced.

Sri Lanka has been in rough weather for quite some time. The fresh blood inducted into the Sri Lankan team has not fired of late. One can assume that their transition hasn’t been a smooth one. Placed at the eighth position in the ICC rankings in ODI’s, Sri Lanka will have to play out of their skins to whitewash the series. No doubt that will take them a notch higher in the ranks overtaking Bangladesh.

Sri Lanka will host the remaining ODI’s at Hambantota. The lone Test match will be played at the prestigious R. Premadasa stadium.