Lankan chances … another view

Sports

With the excitement of the IPL on at the moment the next real challenge for Sri Lanka and its new skipper will be the T 20 world cup in England. The big questions that will be asked is how well will Sri Lanka perform? Are Kumara Sangakkara and his men redy for the challenge? Are the Sri Lankans strong enough to pose a challenge to the rest of the world? Definitely interesting puzzles to look forward to as the game itself is very unpredictable indeed! Cricket anyway was it in nature but the T 20 has made it a game not for the weak heart! It is so tough to fathom and take in! It is a game that makes players with the ability to change it in a matter of an over with either the bat or ball thrives! So in that context how effective will the Sri Lanka team be? Will the fifteen men selected be able to stand up to the challenge?
Firstly how well equipped are we to compete? A closer look at the side confirms the fact that Jayasuriya and Dilshan are now ideally suited to open in this form of the game.

There were doubts expressed when Dilshan was first thrust in to the role of an opener in the 50 over game, where he actually didn’t impress. But come the T20, we have seen a completely different player oozing with confidence and really dominating the bowlers. Even in the IPL having to bat at no 3 only because of the availability of the regular opening pair of India, Dilshan has been in sublime touch and in this form he will be devastating in the world cup at the top. With Sanath Jayasuriya’s ability even at this advanced age of 40, to hit the ball hard and take on the best of bowlers, the Sri Lankan opening pair will be a tough challenge to start with.

Sangakkara will have his first chance to lead the country at the WC T20.

The no 3 and 4 places are cemented with the new skipper and the former skipper occupying those places. In Sangakkara and Jayewardene Sri Lanka have two highly gifted and sound players who can adjust to suit any game. Their experience following the openers is going to be invaluable. But it will be interesting to look at what the rest of the batting will be as in my opinion it will be a keenly contested tussle between three players namely Chamara Silva, Jehan Mubarak and Indika De Saram. To digress a bit further on the inclusion of De Saram, the selectors should really be congratulated for the bold decision taken in bringing him back. After scoring tons of runs in the domestic tournaments and also having led the Sri Lanka team to win the Championship in the Hong Kong Sixes, De Saram would have run out of ideas on what his next step should be to win a place back. He is returning to top line cricket after almost 9 years and will be a worthy addition with his power hitting. As such all three batsmen i.e Chamara Silva, De Saram and Mubarak will be competing strongly for the no 5 and 6 in the order, though I might be tempted to think that Chamara Silva and De Saram may have their noses in front due to their ability to score runs quickly from ball one.

After the top six batsmen, the combination will obviously have to be decided after careful consideration. Generally in the shorter version the selectors tend to go with what you call the seven four combination, which means 7 batsmen including at least two batting all rounders and four front line bowlers. Actually this was the theory that caused Sri Lanka never to develop a second spinner as Muralitharan with the help of three seamers backed by Jayasuriya and Dilshan always did the job. Therefore Leg spinner Malinga Bandara was always the unlucky man to be left out. Talk about the challenges to a selector. I am sure Bandara along with another T20 specialist Chinthaka Jayasinghe, would have come very close to being selected to the squad and would have missed out by just a whisker. Jayasinghe too in his defense, should be noted, had a very good T20 inter provincial tournament and was the player of the T20 Inter provincial tournament the last year. With his ability to hit the ball hard and with very steady medium pace bowling, he I am sure would have given the captain an excellent option.

Back to the team, if Sri Lanka is to play a six five combination then it is imperative that the likes of young Angelo Mathews, Thilina Thushara and Isuru Udana take their game to the next level. Or otherwise it would mean that the Sri Lankans as they found out against India will be short in batting, and might be treading on dangerous grounds when taking on tough opponents. In the case of Mathews the former U 19 skipper and one of the hottest prospects in the game is bound to improve the options for Sri Lanka if he could rediscover his great bowling form he possessed during his days at St. Joseph’s.

As for Mahroof, he should consider himself lucky that the selectors have kept faith in him. After developing an injury and without much match practice, the decision of the selectors only confirms the faith they have in the all rounder’s ability. However he will have to compete with the likes of Isuru Udana and Angelo Mathews for a place in the starting XI, though Maharoof’s added experience may be a factor.
However the biggest bonus Sri Lanka has here is the return of fast bowler Lasith Malinga. He has definitely given the cutting edge in pace at the beginning of a bowling innings which was sadly lacking against India in the last series at home, and what Sri Lanka may lose in the control and guile off the veteran Chaminda Vaas, Malinga should make up with pace and penetration. He will be an ideal foil for the world’s leading one day bowler Nuwan Kulasekera who has been a quiet achiever and is the main stay in the seam bowling line up.

Faced with a line up as strong and varied as Sri Lanka, the opponents are bound to be up against it. And I am very sure and confident that if the Lankans play to their full potential they could very well be the holders of the second T20 world cup cometh June 2009. With games also been played during almost the middle of the summer with the sun bound to shine a bit more brightly, where the English weather is generally dry, the conditions shouldn’t worry the attractive Lankans too much. It will be an ideal way for skipper Sangakkara to launch the next phase of his already illustrious cricket career as the Captain of Sri Lanka! Let’s wish them all the best.

= Roshan Abeysinghe is a leading cricket promoter and an international cricket commentator

E-mail

views[1]