Sri Lanka vs England, 2018: 5 reasons why Sri Lanka can beat England

The return of Niroshan Dickwella, the batsmen and wicket-keeper are a big positive

Niroshan Dickwella

Among the finer talents coming from Sri Lanka in recent times would have to be the feisty left-handed opening batsman and wicket-keeper Niroshan Dickwella. The southpaw opens the batting for Sri Lanka and is usually very aggressive in his approach. Some people would be reminded of Sanath Jayasuriya in the way he attacks the bowling from the word go.

In his 41 match ODI career so far, he has scored 1232 runs at an average of 32.42. Lack of consistent performances meant the impressive batsman lost his spot in the Sri Lankan side.

Niroshan Dickwella has a wide range of shots. Along with the traditional cricketing shots, he is good at playing scoop and ramp shots. However, often, he has been found guilty of throwing away good starts, and that’s reflected in a rather inconsistent career so far. He needs to learn the art of building an innings and bat for longer periods of time.

Niroshan Dickwella has all the ingredients in him to develop into a fine wicket-keeper batsman. He just needs to work on the mental aspect of his game. The coaches and the support staff also need to work on him too.

Now that he’s back in the ODI side for the series against England, it’s very clear that he is in Sri Lanka’s plans for the World Cup in 2019. With 15 matches left before the World Cup, it’s the perfect opportunity for the wicketkeeper-batsman to string together some good performances and book his spot in the squad for the World Cup.