The last few years have been anything but prosperous for the Lankans.
After a string of humiliating losses owing to the sheer disability to fill the void created by the retirement of veterans like Sanja, Dilshan, Malinga, etc ; one would think that things can only get better from here on. Bad news, it is panning out to be exactly the opposite.
Grant Flower tests COVID positive:
The lankan cricket is now at an all time low. And this time; it’s a despairing one. Earlier this year, Thisara Perera announced his retirement. Only a couple of weeks ago, Danushka Gunathilka, Kusal Mendis and Niroshan Dickwella were found guilty of breaching the bio-bubble in Durham, England.
And now, what comes as a massive jolt is that their batting coach- Grant Flower has caught corona virus. It is to be noted that Grant has been an immensely talented cricketer for Zimbabwe during the early 2000s. He scored in excess of ten thousand runs which also include 12 stupendous tons. While the variant type and cause of infection is still a mystery, it’s pretty likely that he caught it during the recently concluded England tour since 3 english cricketers also tested positive for the same.
Here’s what SLC’s medical staff member quoted to ESPNcricinfo-
“We have to find out how Flower got infected, and also which variant of the virus he has been infected with.”
Sri Lankan Cricket in Jeopardy:
Angelo Mathews, their only veteran has already threatened to quit due to internal dispute. Then there’s a pay dispute which has led to discontentment among the players. The musical chairs for the captain’s tag also continues. It’s only been a month or so since Kusal Perera was appointed as the wrecker-in-chief but now even he’s been robbed of the captain’s tag, which now belongs to Dasun Shanaka.
As it stands:
While the batting coach is in isolation and hasn’t made much contact with the squad, the series versus India which commences from 13th July is now under the clouds of doubt. It is possible that he’s inflected with the deadly delta variant or that other lankan players test positive. If either of the scenario carves into reality- the series against India will surely be cancelled or atleast postponed.