Five spinners on the catwalk

by Ranjan Anandappa

With off-spinner Tharindu Kaushal becoming the second bowler inside one year to be tested by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for a suspect action, Sri Lanka cricket has now lined up five other spinners ahead of the West Indies tour starting next month.

The five bowlers lined up for selection according to spin bowling coach and former Test player Piyal Wijetunga are Dilruwan Perera, Ajantha Mendis, Seekuge Prasanna, Akila Dhananjaya and Jeffrey Vandersay.

The 22-year old Tharindu Kaushal made his Test debut against New Zealand in the Boxing Day Test last year at Christchurch and has played six Test matches taking 24 wickets with best figures of 5 for 42.

But soon after the third Test against India in the recently concluded home Test series Kaushal was reported for bowling with a suspect action. He will be tested today in Chennai, India to rectify his action at the ICC accredited University facility and may very likely miss next month's tour by the West Indies who are due to land in the island on October 1 for two Test matches, five ODIs and two T20 matches.

The 33 year old off spinner Dilruwan Perera is tipped to replace Tharindu Kaushal if the latter has not rectified his bowling action by that time. Perera is a bowling all-rounder who can bat in almost any position and has taken 40 wickets in in his eight Test matches. He also has a 95 in Tests against his name. He made his Test debut against Pakistan in Sharjaha in 2014 and played his last Test match also against Pakistan in June this year at Galle and was not considered for selection thereafter due to injury.

Ajantha Mendis is also hoping to make a come- back after a long lay-off due to injury and should be a strong contender to strengthen the spin attack as the Windies are not the best against spin bowling.

Mendis played in 19 Test matches and has taken 70 wickets. He has mesmerized many a batsman with his spin bowling and played his last Test match in 2014 against South Africa in July 2014.

Seekuge Prasanna who represented the country at the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand along with Akila Dananjaya another off spinner who has played a solitary ODI against New Zealand at Hambantota are also in the fray for Test caps. Jeffrey Vandersay the leg spinner said to be the most promising of all uncapped spinners, fared impressively well against the Pakistanis when they toured Sri Lanka in June-July this year with a match bag of eight wickets in a three-day match.

Wijetunga said the 25-year old former Wesley College player was also making a strong claim for representative honours.