Sri Lanka captain Wanindu Hasaranga and spinner Maheesh Theekshana have lambasted the scheduling of their team’s matches in the ongoing T20 World Cup, saying the roster is “unfair” and has already forced them to cancel one practice due to the long travel time.
Sri Lanka lost their group D opener to South Africa and Theekshana spoke out on the scheduling which he believes has negatively impacted the team.
“So unfair for us, we have to leave every day (after the match) because we are playing (at) four different venues,” Theekshana said.
“The flight we took from Florida, from Miami, we had to wait like eight hours in the airport to get the flight. We were supposed to leave at 8pm but we got the flight at 5am. It’s really unfair for us, but it doesn’t matter when you play,” he added.
South Africa, on the other hand, will be playing two more games here while India, who will start against Ireland on Wednesday, will also play three matches in the city before their last group match in Florida.
“...Even from the hotel, it (the practice venue) is one hour and 40 minutes. Even today (for the match against South Africa), we had to wake up around 5am to come here,” Theekshana pointed out.
And that’s why the island nation was forced to cancel a training session ahead of the South Africa match.
“Yeah, that’s why,” Theekshana said.
Theekshana refused to take names but did mention that a few teams “have got the opportunity to stay in the same place but their hotel is only 14 minutes to the ground.”