August 8, 2024

Sri Lanka Spinner Praveen Jayawickrama Faces ICC Corruption Charges

Praveen Jayawickrama, Sri Lanka’s left-arm spinner, has been charged by the ICC for violating three counts of the anti-corruption code related to corrupt approaches in international matches and the Lanka Premier League (LPL). Jayawickrama, 25, has 14 days from August 6 to respond to the charges.

The ICC statement outlined the charges against him, which include:

• Failing to promptly report an approach to fix future international matches to the Anti-Corruption Unit.
• Failing to report a request to approach another player on behalf of a corrupter to fix a match during the 2021 LPL.
• Obstructing the investigation by deleting messages related to the corrupt approaches.

Jayawickrama made his international debut in a Test against Bangladesh in April 2021 and has since played five Tests, five ODIs, and five T20Is, with his last appearance for Sri Lanka being a T20I series against Australia in 2022. In the LPL 2021, he was part of the Jaffna Kings’ title-winning squad, playing one match and taking two wickets. In the 2024 LPL season, he played for the Dambulla Sixers.

The ICC and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) have agreed that the ICC will handle both the LPL-related charges and the international match charges under the anti-corruption code.

Rohit: “We Didn’t Play Enough Sweeps, Reverse Sweeps, or Paddle Sweeps”

Rohit Sharma believes that India’s batters should have been more effective in using the sweep shot during their series against Sri Lanka, especially given the challenging conditions. He noted that Sri Lanka’s batters outperformed their Indian counterparts by dominating the square of the wicket, putting India under pressure throughout the series.

For example, in the third ODI, Sri Lanka scored 173 of their 248 runs (about 70%) square of the wicket, while only 38 runs came from shots played down the ground. Sharma acknowledged that better use of the sweep shot could have helped India counter the spin and improve their performance.

“They were consistent with sweeps, taking their chances,” Rohit said of Sri Lanka’s batters. “There weren’t a lot of runs scored down the ground. They didn’t use the feet as much as we expected. It was about using sweeps and piercing that deep square leg and midwicket field. That is something we failed to do as a batting unit. We didn’t play enough sweeps, reverse sweeps, or paddle sweeps, and used our feet too much. That was the difference.

“If you look at Kusal Mendis and Avishka Fernando today [who put on an 82-run stand], they got a lot of runs square of the wicket. They were using the turn, and sweeping, making the fielder move left and right. They were smart with how they batted and we were not.

“All in all, we need to admit where we have made mistakes, we didn’t dominate against spin. On such wickets, you need to dominate a bit and the Sri Lankan spinners had consistently kept us under pressure in all three games.”

Rohit Sharma Reflects on India’s Spin Strategy and His Approach as an Opener

It’s unusual to scrutinize India’s batting against spin, considering that while India’s limited-overs pitches have generally favored batters in recent years, Indian players are typically well-versed in handling spin. Rohit Sharma and others highlighted this throughout the series.

Currently, the strategy appears to be letting each batter develop their own approach to playing on turning tracks. Some may prefer advancing down the pitch, while others might choose to stay deep in their crease. The key idea is that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all method to playing spin, as different techniques work for different batters.

“It is more to do with individual plans rather than us telling them what to do or what shot to play. All these guys have come here playing so much cricket. All of a sudden to tell them to do things a little different – to play the shot that they are not comfortable with – is not ideal.

“That’s where I have said, it’s all about individual plans, how they want to take the bowlers on, what are the shots they want to play. It starts with your training, When you get to your sessions, I can see the guys are working hard in the nets whenever we get the opportunity to train as well. I don’t see there being a lack of effort when we want to try and play different shots.”

Despite his team’s modest batting performance, Rohit Sharma was the standout batter of the series, scoring 157 runs at an impressive strike rate of 141.44 across the three matches. As an opener, he benefited from the best batting conditions, but in the first two games, where he scored half-centuries, Rohit made sure to keep the required run rate manageable for the batters who followed—a crucial role in the cricket industry.

“I knew that the runs that will be scored during the powerplay will be critical. I knew that the wickets will get a little slow after that, the ball will turn a bit and even the field is spread out. When there are only two fielders outside the ring, we had to take our chances. I took those chances whenever I felt that I could put the bowler under pressure. All the runs that you score over and above that, it benefits the team to play the remaining 40 overs.”

“My personal effort was to ensure that I score as many runs as I could. It was not as if I wanted to throw my wicket away after the powerplay. I wanted to continue the momentum and intent, but I unfortunately got dismissed while trying to play a few shots. My batting plan is pretty simple and straightforward.”