Sri Lankan captain Wanindu Hasaranga has sparked anger before the start of the World Cup mission with a match against South Africa. He expressed fears that travel fatigue could have an adverse effect on his team.

That is true. The Lankans started their World Cup mission with a big loss of 6 wickets by being bowled out for just 77 runs against South Africa.

After the loss in that match, the Lankan cricketers were also in a hurry in the press conference. Because after traveling an hour and a half, they have to quickly check out at the Hotel Brooklyn, from there to catch a six o’clock flight to Dallas. Where the next match is against Bangladesh.

Earlier, the Lankans had to wait for seven hours at the Miami airport due to a flight delay before the match against South Africa. Normal performance may be disrupted during this run.

Only two teams played four matches in four different venues in the 20-team tournament. One team is Sri Lanka, another is Netherlands. On the other hand, teams like India have their first three matches at one venue, New York. They will play the last match in Lauderhill, USA. They are getting all facilities nearby.

New Zealand will play their last three matches at the same venue, Tarobat, West Indies. Besides, Australia will play the first two matches at one venue (Bridgetown), England will play the first two matches at one venue (Bridgetown), and the next two matches at one venue (North Sound).

Among the big teams, India get one venue in their first three matches, while Sri Lanka have four matches at four venues. Lankan all-rounder Thikshana thinks this is very unfair.

He said, ‘What happened to us is unfair. We have to leave space every day. Because we have to play in four different venues. It is injustice. We have an eight hour wait for our flight from Miami, Florida. After arrival we again have to vacate the place by 8 pm. Next day flight again at five in the morning. It is a big injustice for us, these things are not seen during the game.’

What kind of logistics and schedule would have been fair for Sri Lanka? Thikshana’s answer to such a question, ‘I don’t want to name the parties, they are getting the opportunity to stay in the same place. Their hotel is only 14 minutes away from the ground. And one hour and 40 minutes in our time.’

Thikshana added, ‘Four matches at four venues. It’s hard. We don’t know (about the condition). Our first match is in New York, the next is in Dallas. We don’t know anything (what the condition is like). I will play the next match in Florida.

‘I don’t want to name the teams who are playing at the same venue. So they know what the conditions will be like. They also played practice matches at the same venue. No one got that chance. We played a practice match in Florida, then the third match there. Everyone should think about that next year. Because I know nothing can be changed this year’ – added the Lankan all-rounder.

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