'Tough to replace Murali and Rangana; they are once-in-a-lifetime bowlers': SL spin coach Wijetunge

Colombo: For Sri Lanka, watching Indian left-arm spinner Manav Suthar claim a 10-wicket match haul was not merely a stark reminder that their former stronghold in Galle is no longer impenetrable. It also raised pressing questions about the depth of the island nation's spin reserves—a team that once relied on Muttiah Muralitharan and Rangana Herath to dismantle visiting sides at the exact same venue.

Galle has long been Sri Lanka's ultimate bankable venue, boasting a formidable record of 27 victories in 50 Tests. However, a 165-run defeat to India, coming just a year after an Australian whitewash on the same ground, highlights how much ground the host side must reclaim. The glory days of local spinners dominating conditions have clearly faded.

Despite the recent setback, Piyal Wijetunge, head of the spin wing at Sri Lanka Cricket's National High Performance Centre, remains confident that local talent can revive the team's spin tradition.

"See, it's tough to replace Murali and Rangana. They were unique and their experience and skills cannot be easily replaced. They are once in a life-time bowlers," Wijetunge told PTI.

"But we need to trust our new spinners, who I believe have enough talent to serve the team for a long time. They will be better with time and more matches," he added.

Sri Lanka handed a Test debut to 25-year-old off-spinner Keshara Nuwantha during the match against India. Nuwantha delivered an encouraging performance, taking four wickets.

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"He is a special talent. He needs some patient and careful handling. He did well in the practice match (SLC XI vs India) ahead of the Test match, and was drafted into the national team."

Explaining what sets Nuwantha apart, Wijetunge noted: "He is a tall person and can bowl that off-spin and top-spin with ease without giving away too much indication. But these are early days in his career and he needs to improve his tactical awareness -- what should be done at what stage of the match, how to operate against left-arm and right-arm batsmen."

"But that will come to him as he plays a lot more matches, you know, the competitive match exposure. I am sure the management will do the needful," he added.

Sri Lanka previously unearthed promising slow bowlers such as Lasith Embuldeniya (71 wickets in 17 Tests) and Praveen Jayawickrama (25 wickets in 5 Tests). However, both have fallen out of favor in recent years due to inconsistency and off-field issues, including a one-year ICC anti-corruption ban served by Jayawickrama in 2024.

Wijetunge stresses that the door remains open for both players if they perform in domestic cricket.

"The door is not closed on them, I think. If they do well in domestic matches they can always come in. If you see, Embuldeniya was part of the Sri Lankan squad that toured South Africa in 2024 October-November. Jayawickrama, as you know, has some personal problems (one-year ban by ICC in 2024 for breaching anti-corruption code during the Lanka Premier League), but he is on track for a comeback."

"...they need to take wickets everywhere, like Embuldeniya had a good tour to SA in 2019. They did well in our conditions but that is not enough. So, they need to build on it for consistent team selection," he said.

Sri Lanka relies on a multi-tier pathway—spanning school, district, provincial, and four super-provincial levels—to identify emerging talent. Biannual selections feed promising prospects into the national academy.

"We have different coaches at that level (district and province). But I can say that we have strong grassroots cricket from which a lot of talented players emerge as we do selection twice a year from it for the academy."

Pointing toward the next crop, Wijetunge concluded: "I can tell you some names like Traveen Matthew, Vishva Lahiru, Wanuja Sahan, Akash Vigneshwaran etc are coming up. As I said, it's all about giving the right coaching and preparing them technically and mentally for a higher grade of cricket. We have hopes for them." (PTI)