Ratnayake backs minnows Oman at World Twenty20

Former Sri Lanka fast bowler Rumesh Ratnayake is backing minnows like Oman to make an impact at the World Twenty20 next year.

“They were in division 5 and for them to have qualified for the T20 World Cup surprised a lot of people. But, the passion I saw in the players all of whom are non-professional, the commitment they had when I saw them in May was huge. I knew they had something special but they even surprised me by qualifying for the World Cup,” said Ratnayake who could be sitting on their dug out during the biennial tournament to be held in India next year.

“I was doing an assignment for Oman to look after their fast bowlers because they have qualified for the World T20 next year. I did one programme with them in May of this year. Also, they asked me whether I could do programmes with them in the months before the World Cup and hope I could join them for the World Cup. That's a decision which is just pending because I live in Australia,” said Ratnayake who stepped down as Development Officer of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) in July after serving for 14 years in countries like Hong Kong, Nepal, Malaysia, China, Bhutan and the Maldives.

“It’s a team which is very easy to work with. They are willing to learn which is a strong point in them,” said Ratnayake of the Oman side which is made up of Indian and Pakistan expats but whose head coach is former Sri Lanka captain Duleep Mendis.

Asian body

Ratnayake said the work done by the Asian body was reaping dividends.

“As ACC we are very fortunate and we can talk about how Hong Kong, Nepal, Afghanistan and UAE qualified for World Cups which was unique thing. Everyone recognises that it was the effect of the ACC which made it happen,” said Ratnayake who has started his own academy in Melbourne called RR Cricket Academy since August 1.

However, while Oman are making preparations to make their debut at the World Twenty20, Ratnayake was surprised at UAE’s failure to qualify for the event.
 
“That was a surprise because everybody thought UAE would qualify because man to man UAE had a very good team. That’s the game. It is so unpredictable. It’s not necessarily the best team that wins all the time,” said the genial all-rounder who played in 23 Tests and 70 ODIs from 1982 to 1993 for Sri Lanka.

Defending

Ratnayake was not optimistic of Sri Lanka's chances of defending the World T20 title, which they won in Bangladesh last year.

“It’s very hard isn’t it because if you see the trend, nobody has won back-to-back (in T20). Only in 50-over (World Cup) Australia has done it. That was unique because they had great teams and they performed as well. But in T20 it is very hard to see a team winning back-to-back (titles) because even the weakest teams, if they do what they have to do on that particular day, big teams can crumble,” said Ratnayake was consultant coach of the Sri Lanka team during the World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand this year.

Ratnayake was amazed by the growth of Twenty20.

“I think it’s fantastic. It has opened up the game. When you go to a net now, you see players who are 7, 8, 9 or 10 year olds playing shots which you did not see. You could say Aravinda (de Silva) or Sachin (Tendulkar) did that in the past. But now you see many doing things which they did not do,” he said pointing to the need for players to be managed mentally.

“We have to build them up not only with the skills, but mentally prepare them to fit into the longer version of the game, shorter version or the shortest version,” he said citing the example of Australian opener David Warner.
 
“Nine years ago he could not even get a place in the New South Wales team but he was a T20 player for Australia. He is now a fully-fledged Test player. So it’s a mindset. You have to recognise the mental aspects of the player. Those are also skills you have to work on,” said Ratnayake who spent time with students of Desert Cubs Cricket Academy (DCCA) in Sharjah, UAE before flying to his newly adopted home.

DCCA

“It’s wonderful to have someone like Rumesh at the academy because he was one of my heroes when I was young. On top of that, I had the opportunity to do my coaching course at ACC where Rumesh was one of the senior members. It is an honour to have Rumesh work with us even for a short period,” said the head coach of DCCA Presley Polonnowita, a former Sri Lanka first-class cricketer.

Ratnayake who conducted a programme for fast bowlers in Oman, was impressed with the work done at the DCCA, which is one of the leading cricket academies in the entire Gulf.

“When I came here two or three years ago, it was pretty basic facilities. But I think Presley has done a lot in sort of building it up. He is doing things in a very professional way. I see in this there is a lot of professionalism. Coaches involved here are fully fledged coaches which is really good,” he said.

“He worked with the coaches and gave his feedback on where we can improve and have a better impact in our coaching,” acknowledged Polonnowita.

Rumesh Joseph Ratnayake’s eyes lit up when asked about his memories of playing at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

“There were good memories. We didn’t win many matches as we do now but definitely when we won, we won well here. We beat Pakistan and India here. I had my best one-day figures here 5-32 against Pakistan in 1990. We beat India here in a thrilling match where we had to get 66 runs in five overs. Arjuna (Ranatunga) and I, we had that partnership. Sharjah was good because when played against India, Pakistan supported us and when we played against Pakistan, India supports us. It’s like playing (at) home (away) from home,” he chuckled.
 

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