Can we bet on Sanath’s last strand?
View(s):In hindsight it was a wise move by Sanath Jayasuriya to shave his head long before he arrived at the decision to take over as the chief cricket selector of Sri Lanka Cricket.
Otherwise he would have been plucking his hair out strand by strand every time one of the young troopers took a bullet in the chest and fell dead.
We had a mixed bag in the just concluded series against the strong Proteas. In the ODI version, where we generally tend to struggle and even lost to Bangladesh at home, we beat them convincingly on slowed down pitches taking the maximum out of home conditions.
Dinesh Chandimal stumped for yet another low score off the bowling of leg spinner Imran Thahir …. Is Chandimal doing justice by the selectors and their faith in him?
In the T20s, where Sri Lanka is tagged as number one by the ICC, we lost two games badly while the third — the insignificant one — we won convincingly with 1.5 overs to spare, while chasing a target of 160 plus.
Now it is time for a visit to cricket’s lessons learnt and reconciliation commission. What is the input that we could use for our future from this tour?
1. The biggest folly was to call off the Test segment of it in our greed for hidden dollars. After one year of marriage Sri Lanka cricket had to part ways with the SLPL bride because she failed to bring in the Indian black money dowry. As a result, Sri Lanka lost a good chance to beat the strong South African outfit in our own conditions and come up in the standings in the ICC Test ratings, where we are at the bottom of the list. A series win against South Africa would have meant Sri Lanka gaining good winning points and then even a series win against our next opponents, Zimbabwe, would have been more useful.
2. Not only the selectors but the entire cricket-loving public also came to understand that the strategy by Sanath Jayasuriya and company to groom young blood boomeranged on their faces.
During the entire series it was the seniors – namely, Kumar Sangakkara, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardena, Lasith Malinga and Rangana Herath – who took the burden on their shoulders and always rowed the boat home. Nuwan Kulasekera was on the injury list, if not even he too would have come into this list easily.
Even during the T20 series Sanath and Co. thought the Lankan team could survive without the services of the seniors, only for the strategy of playing them in rotation to backfire.
Sri Lanka won its only T20 with the aid of the two seniors — T.M. Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardena — who were amazing with their improvisation and held the Proteas in utter bewilderment. The South African bowlers could not recover after the Lankan onslaught in the initial five overs.
3. Have Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal effectively shouldered the burden of being appointed as captains at this tender age? Sanath may think so, but many others may not agree.
In history there have been occasions when young cricketers have been thrust onto the pedestal to lead their national sides. Angelo Mathews is one such case. It is an unforgiving situation to be in. Ideally it should have been one of the seniors – Mahela, Sangakkara or Dilshan who should have been at the helm. But now without the pressure of being the captain their minds are free and they are on their own –– doing their thing, while Mathews should have been understudying them move by move.
But, now the scenario is different. Mathews is responsible. Yes, we do see from time to time the seniors adjusting the field and making suggestions – yet they are only making suggestions, but it is Mathews who is responsible. So is Mathews ready to shoulder this misery? If he is ready his bat or ball should talk, but neither is doing so. Then Chandimal, who is still fit enough to be in pampers, is given the responsibility of leading the world’s number one T20 outfit in the adults’ world.
It was very amusing to hear both TV commentators Ranjit Fernando and Roshan Abeysinghe searching for the Lankan seniors Mahela Jayawardena and Tillekeratne Dilshan when the South African duo J.P. Duminy and Faf du Plessis were caving into the Lankan bowling attack during the third T-20, which Sri Lanka incidentally won.
Once again what has happened? The talented Chandimal is losing confidence in himself. In this whole series he came up with only one score over forty – clearly not sufficient for a cricketer who is playing in the big league. If this situation continues the day will not be very far away when the selectors are forced to drop him.
I honestly felt sorry for young Angelo Perera; he was out of his depth. Has Lahiru Thirimanne delivered or Kusal Janith Perera lived up to his potential?
Of the youngsters the only consistent performer was off spinner Sachitra Senanayake who adequately stuck to his task, but it seems that as long as Rangana Herath is in the arena, Senanayake will continue to live along the periphery. Still in real terms Herath certainly is a more effective bowler than Senanayake, but bowling in tandem in the big league may give Sri Lanka an added advantage. Yet even with Mathews in they still talk about going in with three seamers.
There is some salvation, but ironically it is coming in the worst form of cricket. Now the SLC will divide top rung cricketers into four groups and have a T20 tournament which began yesterday and will go on till the 17th. This is only for the purpose of selecting a side to take part in the Champions League T20 in India next month. What’s good here is only the best talent in the island will be playing in this tournament.
At the same time we also see a golden opportunity looming ahead of us in the forthcoming Zimbabwe tour. In October Sri Lanka will play this minnow among the ranks of the ICC.
From this end, the Lankan hierarchy must try to maximise this opportunity. To play Zimbabwe there is no point in taking the seniors and beating them. If the Lankans do that it serves no purpose.
This is the opportunity to call up the juniors – leave Mahela Jayawardena, Kumar Sangakkara, T.M. Dilshan, Lasith Malinga and Rangana Herath out of the equation and let the juniors take the battle forward.
Let the seniors take a well-earned rest and work at the nets at the Premadasa Stadium preparing themselves for the more important tour of the Middle East to take on Pakistan and the home tour of New Zealand prior to that. I am more than sure none of them would get poor by missing a tour to Zimbabwe in any manner.
Also the least hidden secret in the cricket circle is the differences between the seniors and the batting and the fast bowling coaches. If the selectors give the juniors the onus of performing on their own and make the coaches responsible for the juniors, it may be a move in the right direction. This may be that pot of gold at the end of something or the light at the end of something else.
The challenge is open to you Sanath and Co. Take it if you can.
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