Shanaka Attributes Sri Lanka’s Batting Struggles to Spin-Friendly Home Pitches

 

Dasun Shanaka believes Sri Lanka’s batting struggles in T20Is are linked to playing on spin-friendly pitches at home. He believes these conditions are more suited to spin bowlers, which is why batters cannot express themselves freely on such surfaces.

Speaking about the ICC T20 World Cup 2026, he believes the pitches in the tournament will have more grass on them which will eventually bring down the number of dismissals.

"I think in this World Cup the ICC has told the ground staff that they have to leave a certain amount of grass on the pitch. Because of that, I think the number of dismissals will fall.” said Sri Lanka T20I captain, Dasun Shanaka.

“Eventually, I'd like to get a good track on which to show how I can bat, because it's harder to showcase my striking ability on turning wickets. Lots of people see me negatively because of this." added Dasun Shanaka.

He then added that Sri Lanka’s middle-order batting woes are linked to pitches that are excessively spin-friendly. It is one of the reasons why the strike rates of the team’s batters are also low.  

"Recently, we've had a lot of issues with the pitches. I know the middle order hasn't performed well. If you want to know why that happened, you should look at the kind of pitches we played on. You'll be able to figure out why the strike rates are low and we're losing wickets.” said Dasun Shanaka.

Shanaka further added that he would like to bat on flat tracks, as that will give his team more chances to score big in T20Is.

"I was only recently reappointed as the captain. I didn't know what the plan was before that. In my opinion I'd like to play on flat tracks. Yes, we have some good spinners in our side, but at the same time other teams also have quality spinners. I think giving 50-50 wickets will help in future. I'd like to bat on flat tracks." added Dasun Shanaka.

Dasun Shanaka believes Sri Lanka’s batting struggles in T20Is are linked to playing on spin-friendly pitches at home. He believes these conditions are more suited to spin bowlers, which is why batters cannot express themselves freely on such surfaces.

Speaking about the ICC T20 World Cup 2026, he believes the pitches in the tournament will have more grass on them which will eventually bring down the number of dismissals.

"I think in this World Cup the ICC has told the ground staff that they have to leave a certain amount of grass on the pitch. Because of that, I think the number of dismissals will fall.” said Sri Lanka T20I captain, Dasun Shanaka.

“Eventually, I'd like to get a good track on which to show how I can bat, because it's harder to showcase my striking ability on turning wickets. Lots of people see me negatively because of this." added Dasun Shanaka.

He then added that Sri Lanka’s middle-order batting woes are linked to pitches that are excessively spin-friendly. It is one of the reasons why the strike rates of the team’s batters are also low.  

"Recently, we've had a lot of issues with the pitches. I know the middle order hasn't performed well. If you want to know why that happened, you should look at the kind of pitches we played on. You'll be able to figure out why the strike rates are low and we're losing wickets.” said Dasun Shanaka.

Shanaka further added that he would like to bat on flat tracks, as that will give his team more chances to score big in T20Is.

"I was only recently reappointed as the captain. I didn't know what the plan was before that. In my opinion I'd like to play on flat tracks. Yes, we have some good spinners in our side, but at the same time other teams also have quality spinners. I think giving 50-50 wickets will help in future. I'd like to bat on flat tracks." added Dasun Shanaka