Cricket in Sri Lanka is shaping up to go on that proverbial trip on the road that has no end. Right at this moment it is sailing like that ship which has lost its rudder mid-stream.
Sri Lankas first match against India in the current Commonwealth Bank series is a classic example to support this argument.
Just a while ago the public harped for the blood of the then captain T.M. Dilshan and thus the switch was made with a lot of cream inside the sandwich.
Now the muppets, the puppets and other rats that keep nibbling at cricket are together Down Under. Mahela Jayawardena a well respected captain is back at the helm.
The Cricket Selection Committee Chairman, Asantha de Mel, who was described by the incumbent batting coach Marvan Atapattu as a muppet is also there. Another man who lives by his word – Charith Senanayake is also there in Australia as the manager replacing the much mellow Anura Tennakoon. Then there is the fast bowling coach – respected Champaka Ramanayake -- may be still wearing the eyeshade that was given to him by that attractive airhostess. So on paper top of the tour squad looks quite awesome.
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| Tisara Perera along with Dhammika Prasad does not look like bowlers who could read a batsman and out-think him at any juncture. |
Back at home at 9 a.m. on Wednesday the Lankan cricket fans were in for a pleasant surprise. The Lankans with all their cricketing brains to back them went into the match without the only Sri Lankan bowler who bowls with a wee-bit of confidence at present times – Rangana Heart. Yet, the Indian camp deployed two spinners in Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Aswin. Literally the pair won the game for the Indians.
Perhaps, the Lankan pundits thought well within the box on that Perth wicket, which is usually notorious for its fast and bouncy track. On their part, the troubled Indians who were at the receiving end on this tour up to that point, jumped out of the box with the two spinners and bagged 4 for 73 in their 20 overs. Then the Indian spin twins came together once again when the Lankans had apparently turned the tide against them with the last recognized batting pair at the crease with another 53 runs still to be scored, batted with two heads on their shoulders and scored the winning runs.
Then again on Friday, there was a repetition. This time it was the Australian fats bowlers C.J. McKay and Mitchell Starc who added the match winning stand of 32 runs for the 9th wicket.
This is not going to be used as a narration of that lost match or the one after. Here we are trying to understand and also make that hierarchy in cricket understand that there are drawbacks in our cricket system, deficiencies in skills and at the same time highlight some shortsighted moves that they have taken and taken the game a few steps backwards in the post Murali-Vaas era.
First came the coaching shame. It was Graham Ford who was given the job by Sri Lanka Cricket in the post Bayliss period. He takes the job, goes back to South Africa and pulls out of the job saying that he had overlooked a clause in his existing contract with a South African side where he had to serve for six more months.
Then came Geoff Marsh’s contract. According to members in the Sri Lankan team at that time he was doing a good job.
Yet the person who pushed originally for Ford, who is also a cricketing politician prevailed over the Sports Minister along with another senior who just lost his cap says how can a Lankan team play in Australia when the coach’s son is representing the very country they are playing against and gets Marsh dished overnight and Ford who first showed a red herring to the Lankan board is back in the saddle.
They also say more about some happenings that occurred in South Africa a while ago in their domestic season when this nit-wit political cricketer was turning out for a state team.
So the rest of the cricketers now have to live by this move while Marsh’s son is now omitted from the Australian team.
In batting as long as the seniors such as Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardena, T. M. Dilshan along with the ever improving talent of Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews are there is not much to be commented on. If they fail in one game there are enough and more evidence that they would come right on a latter occasion.
Yet the bowling department looks worse than a common kitchen colander – it is full of holes. Upon that the most glaring faus pax in Wednesday’s game was considering T.M. Dilshan as a mainstream off spinner. This false notion gave more weightage to the move that left out Rangana Herat or a specialist spinner from the playing eleven. This very move also was one of the main causes for the loss of confidence of off-spinner Suraj Randiv the number one spinner in the immediate post-Murali era. Now the young spinner even cannot hold his place in the Sri Lanka ‘A’ team -- a classic example of misusing the Lankan talent. We remember they did just the same to leg spinner Malinga Bandara some time ago.
While watching the Lasith Malinga operation on Wednesday we wondered where the lad’s thoughts were. While operating at the IPL Malinga who hailed from Galle is a real Mumbai hero. The Mumbai crowd expects a wicket off every ball that Malinga delivers. But, in that game the No 7 and 8 Indian played him with ease at a very crucial time of the game.
While Malinga played a priority two game, the rest of the seam attack was off track, barring Angelo Mathews who now has learned to bowl well within himself. Tissara Perera hardly knew what he was delivering. Perera along with Dhammika Prasad does not look like bowlers who could read a batsman and out-think him at any juncture. The fault lies with the coaching department. They should understand that their bowlers do have limitations and guide them accordingly to cater to the needs of the modern day international cricket. Touching 140+ is not the main criteria. Every other medium pacer who operates at that level delivers at speeds akin.
They must teach their bowlers to learn like the Pakistani left arm spinner Abdur Rehman. He was a in-and-out spinner living in the shadows. Once he paired off with Saeed Ajmal and the latter proved unplayable Rehman is reaping the harvest. Now he too is rated among the best.
We can at least learn from the others. |
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