Players must understand and accept their role

It feels strange, but it’s all over. The non-stop cricket action has finally come to an end. It’s been a remarkable few weeks and there is one inevitable conclusion: T20 cricket, and especially the IPL, is here to stay. The crowds loved it, sponsors flocked to it and the players enjoyed every minute. It was a huge success.

Seven weeks ago the organisation was fairly chaotic. It was, after all, a rushed job. But during the ensuing weeks the organisation grew stronger and stronger. From a players’ perspective, there were no complaints at all. In the end, it turned out to be one of the biggest tournament successes in cricket history. Certainly, India should be proud.

The final between Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings was the perfect finish, a pulsating last-over run chase that left millions on the edge of their seats. Script writers could not have kicked off the tournament better than Brendon McCullum’s breathtaking century, nor could they have scripted a better finale.

Rajasthan might well have lost had Yousuf Pathan not been dropped in Murali’s first over, but no one can argue that they did not deserve the inaugural title. They were underdogs but they purchased their players shrewdly, were brilliantly organised and their fielding was electric. Shane Warne did a terrific job as captain.

On a personal note, I’ll remember the tournament fondly for all the friendships that have been forged. Players of all nations mixed like never before and it was great fun getting to know each other. I feel the impact of this bonding between players will dramatically improve relations between national teams and help the spirit of cricket.

The first tournament was also notable for the fact that it proved that cricket and Bollywood, India’s two greatest passions, could form a great partnership. The merging of entertainment worlds was not just a gimmick. Both added to each other and it created huge interest and appeal.

The outstanding performer of the tournament was, in my mind at least, Shaun Marsh. He scored an incredible 616 runs at 68.44 from 11 games. If his consistency was incredible, his strike rate of 139.68 was very impressive. Australia were fortunate to watch a new star rise on a big stage. He’ll soon be a regular.

The impact of the IPL on our ODI cricket, even Test cricket, will be fascinating. I think the experience has changed mindsets and expanded ambitions. All the norms have been blown out of the window. Where before you might have thought “this is all we can do”, you are now willing to believe in the previously impossible.

Batting limitations were exploded. Nowadays you can sit in the dugout chasing 16-18 runs per over and still feel pretty confident. Bowlers have realized that contrary to early fears that the game was loaded in favour of the batsman, they had a great chance of taking wickets if they pushed their skills and employed subtle variations.

We are now all back in Sri Lanka and immediately the focus has turned to the Asia Cup, a tournament that we desperately want to win. We can hopefully build on the lessons learned from the IPL. Several players, like Sanath, Maharoof and Mahela, will also now carry momentum into the Asia Cup.

One of the important lessons learned is the huge value in clearly identifying specific roles for individuals within a team. All the players must understand and accept their role. Rajasthan were brilliant at this. Sri Lanka have usually been pretty good, too, in this department, but with some new players we’ll think to work-out plans for the Asia Cup.
Our focus will be on strength and fitness work.

The next two weeks are effectively our pre-season for Asia Cup and then the India tour. By packing in strength, power and endurance training now it will really help during another busy few months from the end of June. So we’ll be working extremely hard during the coming days.