While Sri Lanka cricket continues to rebuild in the post-Mahela Jayawardene-Kumar Sangakkara era, their Under-19 team tour of Abu Dhabi did not provide much evidence that the nation's prospects are heading in the right direction.
They were in the UAE for an U19 tri-series against Afghanistan and Bangladesh that was followed by two games against the Afghans.
The islanders started the tri-series in promising fashion when they defeated Bangladesh but then lost the next three games, before losing both games in the series against Afghanistan.
Bangladesh, who are likely to host the U19 Asia Cup in December, emerged as winners of the tri-series after they defeated Afghanistan in the final.
The Sri Lanka U19 coach Jehan Mubarak, however, believes his team can take many positives going forward as they prepare for the Asia Cup and the U19 World Cup, which they host in January and February 2024.
The series were both arranged with short notice as Mubarak’s squad was picked after a three-week camp that included seven debutants.
“The tournament itself has been very good for the boys. The standard was very high, and playing under lights for the first time, and what we didn’t achieve in terms of results we gained through the experience,” Mubarak told The National on the concluding day of the tour on Sunday.
“The bowling, particularly the fast bowling, [standard] was very high. The challenges were different to what we get in Sri Lanka. For a young team on their first tour of this nature it was a new challenge.”
“We arrived after a short camp as this tour wasn’t in our schedule. We are obviously working on the World Cup cycle for next year and this tournament comes very early.
“However, it’s a very good exposure for our boys to play outside Sri Lanka and providing them as many international games on different conditions.”
Mubarak, 42, who played 13 Tests, 40 ODIs and 16 T20Is, will continue with their preparation back at base before playing a series against the visiting West Indies in August followed by another home series against Pakistan ahead of the Asia Cup.
“The tour to Abu Dhabi hosted by Afghanistan has given us an early start to learn from the mistakes,” Mubarak, a double international having represented Sri Lanka in both cricket and water polo, and in age-group swimming, pointed out.
“The attitude of the boys has been very good. We started well with a win and then lost the remaining games in both the tri-series, and the two bilateral games.
“Most of the games were close. We had the problem at the top as we lost wickets in the first 10 overs. We lost either two, three or even four down in the first 15 overs.
“The top order haven’t been able to handle the pace with the new ball during the power-play. That was the biggest learning we have had and, aside from that, we can take many positives forward.
“We conceded a lot of boundaries in the middle overs against the Afghan boys, who are strong lads. We were able to contain the scoring with spin in the second power play in Sri Lanka but it was hard on good batting tracks here in Abu Dhabi. We had to use pace in the second power play.”
The coach felt the bowlers lacked experience in bowling in those situations.
“Back in Sri Lanka, pace is used when the ball is new and then the last 10 overs,” he said.
“We also need to look at wicket-taking options from the fast bowling department, which we lacked here. We have largely used the fast bowling as a defensive option. There wasn’t much spin on these wickets.
“Obviously, we need to use these strategies depending on the conditions, like when we play in Sri Lanka, the game plans can be different to what we played in Abu Dhabi.
Mubarak’s objective is to prepare the youngsters not only for the U19 World Cup but to get them ready to play senior international cricket.
“The players must be able to adapt and adjust to the conditions from the day-night games in Abu Dhabi to the day games in Sri Lanka. This was a good experience,” he said.
“By the time they complete this U19 programme, hopefully they have all the skills to represent the national team.”
Shavon Daniel led the team, and it included Trevin Mathews, Theeraka Ranatunge and Chamath Gomes, who was a late replacement for an injured player.
“Shavon and Trevin were included to give them more experience of playing abroad and to bring the little experience they have to gel with the team,” Mubarak said.
