Maheesh Theekshana expressed concerns about the demanding schedule and logistical challenges that Sri Lanka have been facing at the 2024 T20 World Cup in North America, following their defeat to South Africa in their opening match.
Playing their first game of the tournament against South Africa at the newly constructed Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, Sri Lanka collapsed for a paltry 77 and lost the game by six wickets.
After the match, Theekshana, who bowled just one over for three runs, elaborated on how Sri Lanka have been given an unfair deal regarding the scheduling.
“It’s so unfair for us, we have to leave every day because we are playing [at] four different venues,” he said. “It’s unfair. The flight we took from Florida, from Miami, we had to wait like eight hours in the airport to get the flight. And we came around. 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.”
Sri Lanka, along with the Netherlands, are the only teams scheduled to play their first-round matches at four different venues: New York, Dallas, Florida, and St Lucia.
Meanwhile, eighteen of the other twenty teams play more than one match at a single venue during their first-round fixtures
Notably, India, New Zealand, South Africa, and Uganda are set to play three of their first four games at one venue, reducing travel and increasing their chances of acclimatising to the conditions, a privilege not afforded to Sri Lanka.
On the other hand, Sri Lanka have also faced other logistical issues. Their flight from Florida to New York was delayed by several hours, and their team hotel in New York was a considerable distance from the venue, necessitating more than an hour and a half of travel each way.
“I can’t say the names of the teams that have got the opportunity to stay in the same place but their hotel is only 14 minutes to the ground. Ours was like one hour and 40 minutes,” Theekshana said while adding that they had to cancel one of their training sessions because of fatigue and the distance they had to travel.
“Because even from the hotel, it’s one hour and 40 minutes. Even today [match day vs South Africa], we had to wake up around 5am to come here. All four games in four venues. It’s hard.
“We didn’t know [anything about the conditions]. This was our first game in New York. Next game in Dallas, we don’t know [anything about the conditions]. Next game is in Florida where we played two games, that’s the only plus point we have.
“I can’t say the teams that are playing in the same venue, so they know what the conditions are like. They’re playing practice games at the same venue. No one will get that. We played the practice games in Florida, and our third game’s in Florida.
“There’s some things that I think that everyone will rethink about next year because I know that this year, nothing will change. Our management is trying to fix today’s flight also because we are playing, we have to pack everything and [leave],” he said.
Sri Lanka are scheduled to play against Bangladesh in Dallas on June 7, before they go to Florida again for their game against Nepal on June 11. Their final first round fixture is against the Netherlands in St Lucia on June 16.