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As this column is read on Sunday the much looked forward to T20 in England has got underway. England was scheduled to meet the Dutch in the opening game at Lords whilst New Zealand and Scotland were locking horns the next day at the Oval. The two big games Australia Vs West Indies at the Oval on Saturday and India Vs Bangladesh again on Saturday at Nottingham were key fixtures.
Australia and West Indies is all ways a game looked forward to with much anticipation. Sri Lanka on their part will come out for the first time on the 8th June against Australia at Nottingham. It is all very interesting and exciting for sure!
T20 cricket is a game played at and exceptional speed for Cricket. The knowledgeable former Sri Lanka Captain Arjuna Ranatunga speaking to a private TV channel felt that you don’t need depend totally on ability and skill for this brand of cricket. A bit of luck and some big overs to a very great extent can do the trick for you. Therefore I don’t think one should read too much in to the practice games at all as in the case of all sport, it will be a new day and a new match all the time. Stemming from that there are a few important factors that have loomed large in the warm up games that can be ominous and very challenging!
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Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene is bowled by South Africa's Johan Botha (unseen) as wicketkeeper Mark Boucher reacts during the ICC World Twenty20 warm-up Match at Lord's Cricket Ground, London June 3, 2009.
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Whilst England may never feature in most lists of favourite teams, I am sure with the home conditions in their favour, they could spring a huge surprise. In any event England should easily reach the last eight of the tournament as they have a relatively easy group which comprises Netherlands and Pakistan.
But what about Sri Lanka after its warm up games and the teams they are up against and its group? Australia, Sri Lanka and the West Indies! Definitely and easily the toughest group in the competition! On the same subject, it will be interesting to note how the groupings were done any way as for example the Indian group of India, Bangladesh and Ireland is one of the easiest groups to play in. True the Indians as the defending Champions who are bound to be slotted in an easier group but Bangladesh and Ireland together could only see one of the best teams in the business, Australia, Sri Lanka and the West Indies missing out from the last Eight.
Going in to the tournament itself, the Sri Lankans will have a very tough call when it comes to selection. Having watched the two warm up games -- in the batting it was Jayewardene and Chamara Silva in the first match and Angelo Mathews and Nuwan Kulasekera in the second match who impressed whilst the rest of the batsmen not doing themselves any favours at all despite the opportunity in the South African game in particular. And to dwell a bit more on the South African game, one wonders the wisdom of Jayewardene’s shot selection! After a very encouraging and a timely knock against Bangladesh, one was appealed to see Jayawardane looking to play a reverse sweep as soon as he arrived at the crease! It will be advisable for the Lankans to guard against such risks and to great extent complacencies!
Muralitharan still hasn’t bowled in any game, Sri Lanka has two others in the form of Ajantha Mendis who looked very good against Bangladesh and could have easily rattled South Africa had the catch which was spilt by Maharoof being taken. I say this as it would have given Mendis the opening and the confidence to bowl at the South African batsmen who really don’t know much about the Mysteries he has in his bowling. I don’t mean that Mendis lacked any confidence when given the ball, but certainly getting amongst the wickets early in a spell of only four overs will always give you that extra spring in your step.
The final bowling option available for the Lankan camp is the leading ODI bowler Nuwan Kulasekera. With that combination, in my opinion the bowling line up looks settled with Malinga, Kulasekera, Udana, Mendis and Muralitharan making it up. This leaves us with the batting. Now it is time that young Angelo Mathews given the all confidence by the selectors realizes the importance of developing his bowling. Why do I say this? Especially having seen him bowl at his time in school, he was surely destined to be an excellent fast bowling prospect. But how he lost his bowling form is a mystery. Had he been bowling well and to his full potential the Sri Lankans could have beautifully balanced their line up with Mathews providing an excellent option in both batting and bowling filling in the Third Seamers role as well either the no six or seven slot in the batting. However Sri Lanka at the moment doesn’t have that Luxury of been able to call upon Mathews to do the bowling role and hence they will have to look at Kulasekera and Muralitharan to score some useful runs in the lower order, which could mean that Thilina Thushara may be preferred for Udana , due to Thushara’s greater batting ability.
So what about the batting line up? In any event the Lankans could only have six batsmen if they opt for five bowlers and the obvious candidates will be Jayasuriya, Dilshan at the top and then Sangakkara and Jayawardane. Sri Lanka will have to think very closely at the next two places for which the names will be Chamara Silva, Mubarak, Mathews and Saram. On the evidence of the warm up games the front runners will be Chamara Silva and Mathews with Mubarak also knocking on the door, though Saram on his day can be as devastating as any batsmen in the world.
But one wonders whether the selectors will be bold enough to slot Mathews purely as a front line batsman in a very important event such as the World Cup. Which would leave the door open for either Mubarak or Saram.
These are some of the important questions which need very pertinent answers. Let’s not forget that moment of truth we have all been waiting for is finally here. Sri Lanka can’t afford to falter at this hurdle!
Roshan Abeysinghe is a leading cricket promoter and an international cricket commentator. |
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