Tharanga eager to deliver for Sri Lanka in new batting role

Upul Tharanga is eager to learn batting tricks that'll aid him in his new position. © Cricaction

Upul Tharanga, Sri Lanka batsman, is eager to extend his good run against England, regardless of where he finds himself in the batting order. The 31-year-old left-handed batsman has an impressive One-Day International record against England teams, having scored 674 runs, including three hundreds, in 14 matches at an average of nearly 57 - a start contrast to his career average of 33.

Most of Tharanga's runs have come as a top-order batsman, but his last two innings in the ongoing ODI series against England have seen him score a total of 93 runs batting at number seven in the order. Tharanga is expected to occupy the same position at The Oval on Wednesday (June 29) when Sri Lanka try to come from 1-0 down with two to play in the five-match series.

"I have played 14 matches against England and I am lucky against them. I've done well here, and in Sri Lanka," Tharanga said on the eve of the match. "Playing at number seven is not new to me. Yes, most of the time I have played as a top-order batsman, but I am enjoying it (the new role)."

Part of the reason for Tharanga's demotion is the team management's decision to blood the relatively inexperienced members of squad at the top order with Tharanga anchoring the middle-order along with captain Angelo Mathews. Sri Lanka's top three have only 72 ODI caps between them, and 56 of those belong to opener Kusal Perera.

Tharanga, who has played as an opener in 156 of his 185 ODIs to date, said he was happy to do a job for the team in his new position, even if it required him to adapt his game slightly. The stylish left-hander has shown promise of learning the tricks of the lower-order trade with innings of 53 and 49 at Edgbaston and Bristol. 

"It is up to the management, but they need this from me," Tharanga said. "They need me to bat in the middle order, so I'm happy with that. We have lots of new players and we (need some) experience. I'm just happy to be here and doing something for the country.

"If I bat from the 30th over, I think I can play my normal game. If I go in for the last few overs, obviously I have to change my game. In the nets I'm trying different things," he said. As a cricketer, I always want to play for my country. In the last few years, I am in and out of the team. So I am happy to be here. The last domestic season, I did well, so that's why I got the opportunity - even batting six-seven. So I'm happy to do something for my country."

So far in the series, Sri Lanka's batsmen have struggled to produce the major innings around which a challenging total can be built. Tharanga urged his fellow batsmen to convert their starts inorder to post total in the range of 300 - widely considered the new par score in the 50-over-format.

"We are just needing a big score. Players are getting 40 or 50, and we are getting 240 to 260. As a batting side, some of the top four need to get a big score - get that, and I think we can get 300. There are still two ODIs left, and we are looking forward to winning those games and the series," he summed up.