Theekshana Hits Out at Sri Lanka's Grueling World Cup Schedule
Maheesh Theekshana voices concerns over Sri Lanka's demanding World Cup schedule, highlighting logistical challenges and travel fatigue impacting team performance.
Sri Lanka spinner Maheesh Theekshana has criticized the demanding schedule his team faces in the ongoing World Cup, describing it as 'unfair.' Sri Lanka, along with the Netherlands, are the only teams playing their four group stage matches in four different venues. This has led to significant travel and logistical challenges for the team.
After their defeat to South Africa, Theekshana expressed frustration over the schedule. "So unfair for us, we have to leave every day [after the match] because we are playing [at] four different venues," he said. He described a particularly grueling experience where the team had to wait eight hours at an airport for a delayed flight from Miami to New York. "It's really unfair for us, but it doesn't matter when you play [on the field]," he added.
Theekshana also pointed out the disparity in travel times between teams. "I can't say the names of the teams that have got the opportunity to stay in the same place but their hotel is only 14 minutes to the ground. Ours was like one hour and 40 minutes," he noted. The extensive travel led to the cancellation of a training session due to fatigue.
The spinner emphasized that playing at different venues hinders the team's ability to assess and adapt to conditions quickly. Sri Lanka's match against South Africa in New York, their first at that venue, resulted in a poor performance where they were bowled out for 77. "All four games in four venues. It's hard. We didn't know [anything about the conditions here]. This was our first game in New York. Next game in Dallas, we don't know [anything about the conditions there]. Next game is in Florida where we played two games, that's the only plus point we have," Theekshana said.
In contrast, South Africa will play two more games in New York, and India will play three fixtures at the same venue before moving to Florida. "I can't say the [names of the] teams that are playing in the same venue, so they know what the conditions are like. They're playing practice games at the same venue. No one will get that. We played the practice games in Florida, and our third game's in Florida," he added.
The logistical issues extend to travel days, with the team having to pack up quickly and move immediately after matches. "There's some things that I think that everyone will rethink 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 and [leave]. We woke up around 5.30 to come here, and [it plays on the mind, what] if we miss something here [while packing in a hurry]," Theekshana explained.
Sri Lanka captain Wanindu Hasaranga echoed Theekshana's sentiments but refrained from attributing their poor performance against South Africa solely to these logistical challenges. "We can't say that [it affected performance], but we had tough times, especially in the last few days. We still travel one and a half hours in the morning [of game day], and we have our first round four games in four venues," he said.
Sri Lanka now faces a three-day turnaround before their next match against Bangladesh on June 7 in Dallas. They will then travel to Florida for a game against Nepal on June 11, followed by their final group-stage match against the Netherlands on June 16 in St. Lucia.
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