Pallekele, February 11 Describing the injured Wanindu Hasaranga's absence as a "major loss", Sri Lankan pacer Dushmantha Chameera called on the entire bowling unit to share the responsibility and fill the void left by the premier spinner.
Sri Lanka's spin spearhead Hasaranga was ruled out of the tournament due to a hamstring injury sustained during their opening match against Ireland.
"Yes, not having Wanindu is a big loss for the team. Because we all know his talent. I think the entire bowling unit needs to take on the responsibility. So, I think we all have a big responsibility to fill that gap," Chameera said ahead of their match against Oman.
Spin-bowling all-rounder Dushan Hemantha has been named as Hasaranga's replacement.
"I think when we consider Dushan Hemantha, he was with us in the team recently. He has also played in the Zimbabwe tournament. So, when compared to Wanindu, I think he has a different way of bowling. He can also bat, so he can play as an all-rounder.
"...since he's playing in Sri Lanka and has played in Sri Lanka before, I think we can get what we want for the team from him."
The 2014 champions failed to score a single boundary between the seventh and 15th overs after Ireland introduced spin in their previous match, and Chameera said that was an area they needed to improve.
"When looking at batting, I think we played well during the power play. I think after the power play, we had a setback, because the Keththarama line was a little far around 80 meters. So, I think we had less chance to go beyond boundaries," said the 34-year-old.
"I think we could have got runs in ones or twos when playing in the middle overs. And we also played well during the last three overs. I think Kamindu Mendis played well, and that's because we could reach a score above 168.
"I should mention that Kusal Mendis was a little unwell before the last match. So, he played until the end of the power play. So, I think that was also a reason for missing on the runs as in ones and twos. Because he was a little unwell during that match."
One bad performance doesn't define us: Vinayak Shukla
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Oman were significantly short of runs against Zimbabwe, collapsing to an eight-wicket defeat in their opening match.
Making their fourth appearance in the T20 tournament, Oman struggled against pace and bounce, with their top five batters failing to reach double digits in Colombo.
Oman wicketkeeper-batter Vinayak Shukla, however, backed the side to bounce back, saying their batting struggles did not define them as a team.
"We also worked hard after that game. We came here early and had some practice sessions. But I believe that one bad game doesn't define a team," he said.
"I think we are going to come back stronger here. Even if we have an off day as a batting unit, it's not going to define how the players will perform in this World Cup. We are looking forward to coming up with some good options and tackling these challenges."
