‘It’s unfair’: Theekshana, Hasaranga unhappy with Sri Lanka T20 World Cup schedule

New York (USA), June 4: Sri Lanka captain Wanindu Hasaranga and spinner Maheesh Theekshana have expressed their displeasure over their T20 World Cup schedule.

After suffering a 6-wicket defeat in their first match of the campaign against South Africa in a low-scoring affair, Sri Lanka had to quickly end their media engagements.

According to ESPNcricinfo, Sri Lanka had to rush back to their hotel in Brooklyn, pack their bags, check out and then head to the airport for their 18-hour flight to Dallas for their next match against Bangladesh on Friday (local time) .

Even before their match against South Africa, Sri Lanka had not been able to practice. They were held at Miami airport for seven hours to board their delayed flight to New York.

After the match, Theekshana expressed his displeasure with their schedule and said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo: “It’s so unfair for us, we have to leave every day (after the match) because we are playing (in) four venues different. It is unfair. We flew from Florida, from Miami we had to wait about eight hours at the airport to get the flight. We were supposed to leave at 8 p.m., but we caught the flight at 5 a.m. us, but it doesn’t matter when you play (on the field).”

Of the 20 teams, Sri Lanka is one of two teams who will play their first round matches at four different venues. The Netherlands are the second team among the participating teams to play at four different venues.

Theekshana revealed that they had to cancel their training session due to travel fatigue and had to wake up at 5 am to reach the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium for their match against the ‘South Africa.

“Yeah, that’s why. Because even from the hotel it’s an hour and 40 minutes. Even today (match day) we had to wake up around 5 a.m. to get here.” , explained Theekshana.

Theekshana was also asked about what kind of schedule would have been fair to Sri Lanka.

“I can’t give the names of the teams that play in the same venue, so they know what the conditions are. They play practice matches in the same venue. Nobody will understand that. We played the There are things which I think everyone will think about next year because I know that this year, nothing will change. Our management is trying to fix today’s flight also because we are playing, we have to pack everything up. leave),” he said.

In the post-match press conference, Hasaranga explained whether logistical issues impacted their performance against South Africa.

“We can’t say that. We’ve had a tough time the last few days. The four games in four venues. It’s tough. We didn’t know anything (about the conditions here). This is our first game in New York. The next game in Dallas, we don’t know anything (nothing about the conditions there). The next game will be in Florida where we played two games, that’s the only positive thing we have,” he said. he declares.

After making 77 against the Proteas, Sri Lanka will hope to win their next match against Bangladesh to stay in contention for the Super Six stage.

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