What’s suddenly wrong with Sri Lankan Cricket Team?
They were the better side when they went onto play Pakistan in the final of the Twenty20 World Cup last year in Lord’s. They then thrashed Pakistan in tests and one day cricket to avenge the defeat in the final and were in good nick due to its continuously-in-form cricketers, lead by Muttiah Muralitharan and Sanath Jayasuriya. But after taking a look at their performance in the recently concluded third edition of the Twenty20 World Cup, one fails to understand why the Sri Lankan side has lost the touch that made it fearless and attacking in the first place. Where did they go wrong?
The answer lies in the planning. Dependency on seniors may be a good option when it comes to international cricket, but depending too much on one senior can not only takes it toll on that player but also on the juniors, they should be playing in place of that player, but are not.
Sri Lanka is following the example of its neighbouring test countries India and Pakistan, where cricket is followed as a religion, not as a game. If the team wins a tournament, the players are lauded as Gods but they are the Devil when they lose. The way they played in the matches, the blame is solely on the players for such losses.
Recently the islanders had a change in captaincy, with Mahela Jayawardene opting to hand over the reigns to Kumar Sangakkara in order to concentrate on his batting. He did manage to concentrate, that’s for sure, scoring heavily during the Twenty20 World Cup, but it was the failure of others that is of concern.
The inventor of the scoop shot, Tillekaratne Dilshan was tried and tested in different positions but failed to click in the mega event, and along side Sanath Jayasuriya was the worst player of the tournament. Both couldn’t fire their side to explosive starts, looked out of sorts in the middle-order and were off colour while fielding. No captain wants such a player in the side but they are reputed Twenty20 cricketers, and that’s why they were part of the squad.
With his sling action, pacer Lasith Malinga steered his side to the final last year but was sent to the Caribbean without match practice, an error on the part of the management. He looked short of match practice and that cost his side a place in the final, as they crashed out of the semi final against England.
The captaincy of Kumar Sangakkara erred by using a half fit Muttiah Muralitharan in their side‘s crucial Super 8 match after he was ruled out of the event, because had he been a little unlucky, the decision would have proved costly for Murali’s career. The mystery behind Ajantha Mendis seems to have been solved by oppositions and the bowler must rethink his strategy if he wants to fill in Muralitharan’s boots once he calls it quits.
There is another exciting prospect in the Sri Lankan side in the form of off-spinning sensation Suraj Randiv, who took three wickets against Australia in the Super 8 match. He should have featured in more matches for his side, and it seems Sangakkara will have to mentor him if he has to make a match-winning bowler out of him.
Angelo Matthews was the star of the Sri Lankan side both with the bat and the ball throughout the event, and if juniors like him, Dinesh Chandimal, Thissara Perera, Chanaka Welagedara, Chamara Kapugedara and Chinthaka Jayasinghe get chances in the future, Sri Lanka might topple Australia as cricket’s powerhouse.
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