Let’s not have an unsung swan song for Sanga and Mahela
There are certain issues which are at times bigger than the matter in question itself.
Last Wednesday the Lankan selectors met the press and discussed the Lankan World Cup squad and many ideas were bartered between the head table and the men with the pen.
Now once again the Lankans are going into this World Cup as the runners-up of the last two finals – the first being the 2007 final against Australia during the Gilchrist golfball show and the second against India under a cloud of mystery, with the selectors and the captain resigning soon after the completion of the tournament in Mumbai in 2011.In 2007, Sri Lanka playing under Mahela Jayawardena met Australia in the final and lost by a margin of 53 runs under D/L method, but the final was marred by umpiring faux pas and Adam Gilchrist histrionics.
This is how we would like to see the two stalwarts at the end of CWC 2015
Gilchrist who had had a rather subdue tournament suddenly exploded in the final. Took the Lankan attack apart which was steady until then, to score 149 in the Australian total of 281 in 38 overs, but was only later revealed that he had concealed a golf ball in his glove to get some extra strength into his shots.
The incident created a lot of questions till the ICC intervened and declared there was nothing wrong in one wearing a golf ball in his glove while batting. However, it was like taking the side of a naughty boy who was up to no good without his parent’s knowledge.
Then it was the umpiring conundrum. Recording this drama, Cricinfo explains: “Australia put the seal on the most dominant campaign in World Cup history, securing their fourth title and their third in a row since 1999 thanks to Adam Gilchrist’s scintillating 149 from 104 balls. But that, sadly, is not what the final of the ICC World Cup West Indies 2007 (to give it its full and fully deserved title) will be remembered for.
“Whatever went on in those overs is anyone’s guess. It was too dark for the fielders to see anything, let alone any of the fans in the stadium or the press in the gantry, and besides, the Australians had already celebrated their moment of victory. That came after the sixth ball of the 33rd over, when the Sri Lankans –to all intents and purposes — accepted an offer for bad light, and appeared to have conceded the game with an improbable requirement of 63 from 18 balls.
“What happened next will doubtless be the subject of blame-games, buck-passing and recriminations. Australia’s celebratory huddle was broken up by a tap on the shoulder from the umpire Aleem Dar; the ground staff who had been un-pegging the on-field logos were told to nail them back down and reposition the pitch markers, and out trooped the players to block their way into the twilight. It was asinine, undignified, and entirely appropriate for a tournament that long since detached itself from the origins of sporting contests.”
Then when it came to the 2011 tournament the circumstances were different. The Lankan playing in familiar conditions took the game by storm and entered the final to face the newly crowned money weights in the cricketing world.
Sri Lanka after scoring a commanding 274 for 6 and then having India back to wall at 31 for 2, lost the match after losing the grip rather unexplainably.
Then soon after the final, selection committee chairman Aravinda de Silva resigned from his position while Kumar Sangakkara relinquished his position as captain, but, opted to remain in the team.
The real reasons for these actions are yet to come to the surface.
Eight years from the Caribbean fracas and four years hence the Mumbai mystery, the two senior citizens of Lankan cricket walk into the World Cup arena for the final time still holding their heads high. Though playing in Australia and New Zealand, there has not been a single instance that the Lankan cricketers have got continuous exposure in an alien environment of this nature — I mean the New Zealand exposure. That should hold them in good stead initially.
The only other instance was in the Indian subcontinent itself, where the Lankan played the Bangladesh series, the Asia Cup and the T-20 World Cup and the Lankan cricketers though beginning the tour rather tentatively even against the lowly placed Bangladesh, returned home with two trophies – the Asia Cup and the T-20 World Cup.
Generally, the Lankan cricketers are big time players. Give them a real cup; they would be in pursuit earnestly. For instance as rank outsiders, they won the cricket World Cup in 1996. But, in 1999 failed in the defence badly and thus were booted out after the first round.
That was the only instance. In 2003, the Lankans reached the semi-finals and then the two finals against Australia and India.
Now the duo walk onto the field for the last time wearing the blue playing kit. After this World Cup even on TV we will not see the two champs in coloured kit again. Now it is up to the rest of the gang to make sure that Sri Lanka would not be dumped in the first round and the two stalwarts would have an unsung swan song. So the rest of the Lankan cricket team should ensure that the team goes safely into the second round and then take it game by game till we reach the final. This tournament must be dedicated to Sanga and Mahela and you and I along with the rest of Sri Lanka owe it to them.