Sangakkara Pleased With Malinga’s Return, Criticizes Ranking System
Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lankan captain said he was pleased with star bowler Lasith Malinga’s return ahead of the last Test against India. The Sri Lankans will have a point to prove as they take on ICC’s number one team, whom they lead 1-0.
Sri Lanka know that even a win over India will not push them to India’s position at number one. The highest they can reach is the number two spot because of the ICC’s ranking system. Sangakkara made suggestions to the ICC so they would improve their ranking team, which he thinks is inefficient because it has deprived Sri Lanka the chance to go top during this series. He said they needed a 'more relevant and pertinent far-reaching ranking system that the present one.’
Sangakkara confirmed that the motivation to secure a victory over http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 to win the series was present, even though they wouldn’t secure top position in doing so. He said the team was focused on the match ahead and not the rankings, which they did not even know about until recently. However, he did say that there was a need to improve the ranking system so that it showed the rankings as they actually are at that point in time and does not have a specific time to be updated, like three years or a week block.
“There are five days to go before anything is decided upon; No. 2 or all of this is in the future. We just want to try and win the Test match starting tomorrow. Our focus in on doing that and playing good cricket on the five days putting enough pressure on the Indians and getting 20 wickets of theirs which is not easy to do on any wicket. We'll think about that and then talk about rankings if everything goes to plan after that,” he said.
Taking 20 wickets now seems a realistic possibility with the return of Malinga. Malinga had a sore knee, which kept him out of the larger part of the first Test but he is now fit to take on India. In a Man of the Match performance, Malinga took seven wickets in a ten wicket victory at Galle but had to be rested for the match at SSC which ended in a draw.
He confirmed that Malinga was back and performed well at pratcise. He said they just had to wait for an update on his progress this evening, after which they would finalize the selection. The captain was confident that his best bowler would be up for the challenge; he said it was important for Malinga to be in a mentally fit condition as well as physically. He said that Malinga did not have to worry about support from the squad, selectors, administrators or the fans, no matter what happened in the match.
“That goes for any player junior, senior or whoever, not just Lasith. Once they know that the right atmosphere and the right environment is there to concentrate on their cricket they should fully go about their business without any fear of repercussions or even if there is an injury that they will be properly looked after having been injured playing for their country. The mental confidence improves a huge deal, it's very important for fast bowlers on tracks especially in the subcontinent that they are made to understand that what they are doing is important for their teams and their countries and that they are going to be backed 100% no matter what happens out there,” he said.
Sangakkara who is on the panel of selectors, which is headed by Aravinda de Silva, said it was a privilege. He said he had learnt a lot from the experienced panel and said it was easier to make a decision about a player once you knew him. He said that it was especially important with fast bowlers; he said it was important to know that the player was fully committed and could handle the pressures and challenges of Test cricket.
He said he expected 100% commitment from the Sri Lankan squad, and so far he said that is what he had gotten. He said he was impressed by the attitude of the team and termed them as fantastic. He gave them credit for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758’s rise in the ranks and said that it was their hard work which had brought them up to this level, where they had a chance to go up number two in the ICC’s rankings.
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