There is a lesson for everyone in Sangakkara’s professionalism
View(s):He had completed his century. Former Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara looked down at the crease and took his guard once more.
The sweltering heat that prevailed at the Premadasa Stadium was quite unforgiving. As he was looking down a streak of sweat poured down off his helmet and became a part of Lankan soil. Yet the determination in his eyes was unwavering. He was there with a mission. He was there to guide the younger brood and he knew by experience that the only way to do it was by example.
It took me back to an episode that I watched recently on television. It showed how loving even a crocodile mom could be. Generally a crocodile evokes fear in us. Yet, when it comes to her young, she is the most gentle and the caring being that could be. Likewise, where cricket is concerned, Sangakkara is a thoroughbred professional. He makes his living out of it, but, what protruded from his actions in the two Test-match series which ended on Tuesday was that within that professional hide lives a person who takes pride in what he does and executes it with a broader perspective.
Dinesh Chandimal’s second century against Bangladesh was largely fashioned by the man who stood at the other end – Kumar Sangakkara.
One may argue that his run-spree was against the lowly placed Bangladesh attack. But, I challenge any batsman in the world to walk on to the crease against any bowling attack in the world and bat on with the same consistency. It is definitely difficult. The concentration that you have to put in is tremendous. Staying at the middle, coping with every ball that is delivered at you and dealing with it on its own merit take a lot off you. So, to keep on doing it every time that you walk on to the crease is just difficult.
It is encouraging that the new skipper Angelo Mathews got into his captaincy boots with Sri Lanka’s sixty-sixth Test match win along with the series. Yet, what is disappointing is that hereafter the Lankan team will have to wait till October to travel to Zimbabwe for their next Test and then wait till December to take on Pakistan to have a meaningful Test series that would really test Sri Lanka’s weaning skills in that department of the game.
History said that prior to the Galle Test, Sri Lanka had won all other Test exchanges against Bangladesh, but for some ironic reason the curator was requested to roll the wicket and make it batting friendly.
However even in the second Test, though the Lankans won it with ease by the end of the fourth day, there were times the game went ding-dong. What really stood between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka was the skill of Sangakkara and Rangana Herath. While saying this, I am not taking any sheen off from the input of Dinesh Chandimal who scored a mature century in the second Test. But deep down I feel that even Chandimal’s second century was largely fashioned by the man who stood at the other end – Sangakkara. I say this because Chandimal’s century in the second Test was sans any frilly exuberance like the first. When Chandimal walked in Sri Lanka were four down for 64 and at the other end Sangakkara was looking for someone with skill to stick on. It was that partnership finally wrote the first chapter of the victory.
Somehow, I feel that the Sri Lankans now have a funny habit of fluctuating their skills depending on the opponent. A few months ago the high-riding English cricketers were in Sri Lanka for two Tests, and the Lankans matched their skills ending the series one-all. Next to come were the not-so-hot Kiwis. Yet, the Lankans showed no difference. There was hardly any difference between the two teams and the series was shared one-all.
Then it was the just concluded series against Bangladesh. In the first Test the visitors matched Sri Lanka one to one and even led in the first innings. Then in the second Test there was more than one occasion that the Bangladesh team could have thought of pulling off their first Test win and the series against Sri Lanka.
Pondering about the Galle Test, one wonders as to who took the first step backwards. Didn’t the Lankan authority have faith in the skills of Rangana Herath? Then after rolling the wicket so well, Sri Lanka went into the Test match with two spinners, but the wicket prepared was not for them.
Then in the second Test the Lankans opted to bat second and went in with three frontline seamers. Besides that Mathews is also a seamer with no mean skills. I wonder what the idea behind playing Suranga Lakmal was. What was he going to accomplish? What was Sri Lanka as a team going to accomplish? He is just an ordinary trundler in international standards. His career record just suggests that. Twenty wickets in 14 matches with a best of 3 for 55 cannot be considered an achievement. Besides, what happened to Chanaka Welagedera, a bowler with a better track record, and in addition he is a left armer too.
However, the Premadasa wicket has never been an out-and-out fast track. It always slows down in spite of the initial misleading green top. What was the result? Lakmal bowled 16 overs in the first innings after Sri Lanka won the toss which was of no avail. Once the wicket slowed down in the second innings, Lakmal bowled only nine overs — and mostly, he was a passenger. In the second innings part-timer Dilshan had to fill in the blanks by bowling 25 overs.
Why wasn’t Tharindu Kaushal played? At present he is in roaring form in domestic cricket. I am sure that Sanath Jayasuriya and company have his bowling record. Had he played in the second Test, he would have given the Lankan attack more balance. They would have had three good seamers and three spin bowlers – that is including Mathews and Dilshan into the fray.
Even Herath went through that agony once upon a time in his career. Herath took his last 100 wickets in 18 matches at an average of 24. The first 100 came in 29 matches at average of nearly 35. More strikingly the first 100 wickets came in 12 years, while the second 100 came in one and a half years. One may ask how? It is because the Lankans had put all their spin bowling options in the Murali basket. In this Test match Rangana Herath bagged twelve wickets, but he also bowled 64 overs.
The Lankan think tank always has this kink in placing their faith in a third seamer, when the Lankan wickets are not so. At one juncture it was Dilhara Fernando. He was there in any melee, but how many matches he won for the country – may be one.
We hope Kaushal will not become another Herath, having to wait till one champion retires to come out to show his skills. I feel if Kaushal is given the opportunity to bowl in tandem with Herath for a while he will grow in confidence and become an asset for the future. Remember in the last day of the second Test, Herath celebrated his 35th birthday.
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