Former Sri Lanka pacer Chaminda Vaas is busy with Colombo Strikers as bowling coach in the ongoing Lanka Premier League but is keeping a close tab on how various teams are shaping up for the World Cup in India later this year. In an exclusive chat with CricketNext, the legendary pacer explains what Sri Lanka needs to return to its glory days, the growth of T20 leagues around the world, why India have a “slight advantage” in the World Cup and more. Excerpts:
So many leagues are happening around the world these days. Where do you see Lanka Premier League in that context and how do you see it helping the Sri Lankan cricket ecosystem?
Well, it’s slowly getting better. We need to have good players from overseas. People like Babar (Azam) and there are quite a few from Australia and it’s good to have all the foreign cricketers and you know playing competitive cricket. A lot of Sri Lankan youngsters can learn from them and even Sri Lanka cricket will go up.
Plenty of Sri Lankan players are playing in other leagues around the world so when they come back to the Sri Lankan setup and the LPL do you think they return a very groomed commodity and ready to take even the best in the business on?
There are quite a few guys playing in different leagues but when it comes to Sri Lanka, when they play with them with the other players, they can learn so much from them too. When you have all the overseas players like you know the names I mentioned earlier, you can learn from them.
With so many leagues happening around the world, we have seen a growing trend now where players are opting to play more in such leagues and opting out of central contracts. Where do you see cricket heading now in future? Do you think this is going to be the norm that more and more people will play T20 leagues over the country?
T20 cricket has been becoming commercialised and most of the players will benefit from it financially and taking care of them and it’s up to all the cricket boards to find a solution like you know increasing their match payment. If you can do that, I’m pretty sure that the boys will choose which format they have to play and try to sustain that.
In the last five years we have seen Sri Lankan cricket has gone through ups and downs and the transition seemed to have finally ended now. Would you say the future is looking good because Sri Lanka won the last Asia Cup and qualified for the 2023 World Cup with convincing results?
Just one tournament we won last year. Winning Asia Cup doesn’t mean that you can expect similar things to happen in other tournaments. We have to play good cricket consistently. After 1979 we are playing qualifying (World Cup qualifiers) again and there are so many good cricketers being produced in the country. We have played four World Cup finals, three T20 World Cup finals. Our club system has to improve and we need to get the right players according to formats and you know try to play the best eleven. We have so much talent in this country and getting them is the most important thing. It’s up to the Sri Lanka cricket, it’s up to the selectors to pick the right people and I’m pretty sure that if they can do that our cricket will improve.
The last time a World Cup happened in India, Sri Lanka played the final. Do you think the side this time has what it takes to bring some cheer back home?
We have a talented side and one of the best leg-spinners – Wanindu Hasranga – I have seen in the world. There are mystery bowlers who bring variety to attack and we have Matheesha Pathirana who has been performing really well in IPL. The most important thing is we have to play as a team you know when it comes to a big tournament and playing the right combination and playing smart cricket is most important and if we can do that, I’m pretty sure that we can fight and can give a fight to any team.
The upcoming Asia Cup will be played in a hybrid format with games in Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Do you reckon there’s going to be a needless travel load on players?
Well, most of the players have been doing that mostly like you know when you play even franchise cricket. These guys have been playing regularly and are being travelling and they’re quite used to it and you know modern cricket is like that. Whenever you have time, they know to focus on their fitness.
A couple of months to go for the World Cup, how do you think the Indian side is shaping up for the tournament? Any team you reckon is the favourite?
Too early to predict. All the teams participating in the World Cup have a good chance and playing in India, India have slightly more advantage because they have been playing in India and they know exactly how the wickets are. So slight advantage for India but other teams are also going to be very competitive when it comes to World Cup.
Coming to your ongoing assignment, what were the preparations like before the start of the Lanka Premier League?
The preparation has been good and all the local players came for the training session. Overall looking good, yeah.
Thoughts on your captain Niroshan Dickwella who was given the responsibility to lead a star-studded squad featuring the likes of Babar Azam, Naseem Shah and plenty of household local names?
The quality is that he is very positive as a leader and knowledge of the local players and talent will give slight advantage. I’m pretty sure that will things turn around during this LPL and good for his performance as well.
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