Silverwood backs Asitha Fernando for white ball cricket

Rex Clementine
at Pallekele

Batters have stolen the limelight in Sri Lanka’s ODI series win over Afghanistan here at Pallekele with Pathum Nissanka smashing a first-ever double hundred and Charith Asalanka posting a match-winning unbeaten 97. But fast bowler Asitha Fernando has been equally good in his comeback series.

The right-arm seamer, playing his first white-ball game in more than 15 months, was a last-minute replacement for the injured Dushmantha Chameera. While Asitha has gone on to become a regular in the Sri Lankan Test line-up, as showcased by his 13 appearances, his opportunities in white ball cricket have been few and rare – six ODIs and three T-20s.

Asitha troubled the Afghan batters with his bouncers and ended with two wickets.

Head Coach Chris Silverwood, a fast bowler himself for Yorkshire, was confident that we would see more of Asitha in limited-overs cricket moving forward.

“Asitha certainly put his best foot forward in the last game. The way he turned up at short notice was fantastic. The lengths he can hit time and time again and the line that he bowls are very tight. He has got a very good accurate bouncer. So, for me, we need to keep pushing with him. He has to work on his slower ball. He has the skills that need to be successful in white ball cricket,” Silverwood said.

One of the areas that Sri Lanka have shown huge improvement during Silverwood’s tenure is fast bowling. The Head Coach was confident better days were ahead for his team. “I love fast bowling and it’s a passion of mine. I have been trying to help the youngsters we have got here. Everybody has improved. For me to give my experience being a fast bowler myself I have enjoyed it. These are early days and we need to keep pushing. We are forming up a young very good fast bowling unit.”

History was witnessed at Pallekele on Friday as Pathum Nissanka broke Santh Jayasuriya’s long-standing record for most runs by a Sri Lankan in an ODI and he went on to score the first ever double hundred.

“Pathum has been threatening to do something big for a while now. He has been quite a consistent performer for us. He has gone about making that position his own. He had the right conditions there and we witnessed something special that day. What a way to celebrate your 50th ODI cap by scoring the highest score by a Sri Lankan. We at the dressing room enjoyed it.”