Sri Lanka enroute to redemption under http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DPMD-Jayawardene-c1397
Sri Lankan fans have had little to celebrate over the past few months, where their team has faltered time and time again, adding to their agony.
Sri Lanka, which has been perhaps the most consistent subcontinent side for over a decade, went from great to bad and then to worse in a period of months.
Troubles started soon after the final of the International Cricket Council (http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 proved a better side.
The team was back then led by the stylish and elegant http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KC-Sangakkara-c1779, who with his calm demeanour was someone to look up to, and the way he led his team was remarkable.
However, after the loss in the final, Sangakkara relinquished his post and deemed it appropriate to let a younger guy take charge.
The cricket board, respecting his decision replaced the left-hand batsman with opener http://www.senore.com/Cricket/TM-Dilshan-c2691, hoping for a brighter future under the flamboyant batsman.
However, the decision backfired and Sri Lanka tasted the bitterest defeats under his leadership.
He was accused to having an uninspiring attitude, which was not helping junior players.
Under Dilshan’s captaincy, Sri Lanka were ripped apart by the English team during their tour of England and later were handed a humiliating whitewash defeat in a Test series against Pakistan in the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/United-Arab-Emirates-c3033 (UAE).
This was the last straw, and authorities in Sri Lanka realized that Dilshan was not the leader they had hoped for and it was time for him to be replaced, but with no other player senior or experienced enough, it made sense to name either Sangakkara or former
skipper/batsman Mahela Jayawardene as the new captain.
Finally Jayawardene, who had had a previous stint at the captaincy in 2009, was named Sri Lanka’s new leader after Dilshan stepped down.
Jayawardene worked like a charm as the Commonwealth Bank Series in Australia was his first task, and the batting master led his team in a remarkable manner against teams from India and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758’s reaching the final was a testament to the superior
captaining abilities of Jayawardene and although the Asian side failed to win the series, they gave the hosts a run for their money.
This is how the Lankans have always played and while teams from India and Pakistan have mostly failed to cope with the fast pitches outside the subcontinent, Sri Lanka have mostly been a treat to watch while playing abroad.
Looking at Jayawardene’s current stint, this is a job he never should have left in the first place. He knows how to lead and tame even the wildest of players in his squad, a craft only few captains are masters of.
Asia Cup 2012 is perhaps the only dark moment in Jayawardene’s recent captaincy, where his side failed to win a single game as they were overpowered by India, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747.
However, one bad result against teams which are unplayable in Asia should not ring alarm bells and no one should cast any doubts on his captaincy.
Sri Lanka are going through a rebuilt phase, and require players like Jayawardene and Sangakkara to play alongside the young guns to help in their grooming to carry the torch of Sri Lankan cricket.
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