Sri Lanka Spinner Hits Out At Grueling T20 World Cup Schedule

Sri Lanka spinner Maheesh Theekshana hit out at the grueling World Cup schedule that his team has been put through, calling it 'unfair'. Sri Lanka is one of only two teams (the other is the Netherlands) who are playing their four group-stage matches in four different venues.

The agony doesn't end here at the hotel where they were staying for the clash against South Africa the hotel was an hour and 40 minutes.

Theekshana on Demanding World Cup Schedule

"it's unfair to us because we have to leave every day. we are playing at four different venues, it makes it difficult for us to pack and then unpack, we had to catch a flight from Florida to Miami we were stranded at the airport for 8 hours. "

"I don't want to take any names, but there are teams that are staying close to the ground just 15 minutes away, whereas we are staying at a great distance approximately an hour and 40 minutes. today also we had to wake up at 5:30 am to get to the ground in time.

Theekshana also believes playing at different venues breaks the rhythm as well as robs them of practice time and deprives them of a good amount of rest.

"all four games are in four different venues we play in New York today then we head to Dallas, before going to Florida, our only positive is that we played 2 games over there, else we don't have any idea about the conditions," Theekshana said.

Their opposition for the day was South Africa, who have the luxury of playing two more games in New York while India - who begin their campaign against Ireland on June 5, will also play three fixtures at the same venue before heading to Florida for their last of the group stage.

"I can't reveal the names of the other teams who are playing at least 2 games at a particular venue.

Theekshana also revealed how the Sri Lankan team has to do the hard yards on travel days and have had to pack quickly and leave when they have played a game

"There are a lot of many things which need to be looked at next, everybody needs to look at this, this the year things can't change, our management is looking for flights at the moment, today also we woke at 5:30 am because we had to leave while packing there is always a fear that we don't leave any stuff behind," he said.

Sri Lanka skipper Wanindu Hasaranga did not want to add much to all of these logistical nightmares for his team's poor performance against South Africa but he still echoed Theekshana's thoughts about how tough his team had it at the World Cup.

"We can't say that it has affected our performance but I'm just saying that playing at four different venues, traveling every day is quite hard on players' mind and bodies," he said.

Sri Lanka have a three-day break before their next game against Bangladesh on June 7 in Dallas. After that, they travel to Florida for their game against Nepal on June 11 before heading to St. Lucia for their last group-stage match against the Netherlands on June 16.