Mahela, Cricket pundits lament Lankan cricketing woes
Sri Lanka’s regular run of defeats, despite the odd spark, has left cricket pundits in complete disappointment, as they have now called on the Island Nation to replace the misfiring cricketers with new blood, to inject life back into its game.
Sri Lanka, a team going through a major transition phase, following the retirement of batting greats Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, have been through a rough patch since the 2015 World Cup, and one believes turning the tide with the current crop of players seems almost impossible.
Except for the UAE encounter, Sri Lanka lost all else at the Asia Cup, while they beat Afghanistan on the back of TM Dilshan’s half-century, before going down against the West Indies in the second match. Sri Lanka played against England in a must-win game last night, to stay afloat, ahead of their final Group I match against South Africa on Monday.
After their fragile middle-order surrendered meekly to the West Indian bowlers last Sunday, Ian Chappell and Mahela Jayawardena said that Sri Lanka should now invest on the next generation of cricketers, as the present crop have not learned during their formative years with the national team.
“They have not learned much playing under Mahela (Jayawardena) and Kumar (Sangakkara), and I believe it’s time to move on and try the next generation of cricketers,” the former Australian skipper said while airing his views on internet.
“They have not been able to prove in any format, so it’s time to move on.”
With Jayawardene and Sangakkara still in the team, Sri Lanka introduced several young players — the likes of Dinesh Chandimal and Lahiru Thirimanne into the side to make the transition smooth, but now that they have retired, the young ’uns are still struggling to come to terms with the pressure of international cricket. The top four has the lowest average in the world — 20.32, an indication of Sri Lanka’s struggle in T20 internationals during the last 12 months or so.
Thirimanne has a healthy average of 34.48 in 107 matches in 50-over cricket. A decent record, given that he had been shuffled across the batting order, anywhere from 1-8, but has averaged a miserable 18 in 24 T20 internationals — the main reason for his initial exclusion from the squad. Nevertheless, widely considered the right man to fill the shoes of batting great Kumar Sangakkara at the all important number 3 position, he was parachuted into the side at the expense of Niroshan Dickwella, by the new cricket selectors who thought the experienced campaigner would inject the much needed stability into the weak middle order. Alas, so far it has not been the case.
Commenting further, Jayawardene said Thirimanne’s dismissal was a blunder that should not have been committed by someone with four to five years of international exposure. Thirimanne sliced a widish Samuel Badree delivery straight to point, when all that was expected of him was to play through the innings while rotating the strike.
“To be honest, there are no excuses. Thirimanne has been playing for 4-5 years and this is why the new selectors brought him into the middle order, as it was a bit shaky — giving him a role batting at 3, and to bat that 10-12 overs the team requires, so that Angelo (Mathews), (Chamara) Kapugedera and (Milinda) Siriwardena can go out and play their shots. I was very disappointed the way he (Thirimanne) got out,” said Jayawardena in frustration.
“So it was with Kapugedera. To take a risk against (Samuel) Badree who was bowling so well was a big mistake. These are some of the mistakes we cannot make at this level, especially at a World Cup,” he added.
Another former Sri Lanka cricketer who did not wish to be named, said the unprecedented events ahead of the team’s departure to India, made things worse for a team looking to defend their title won two years ago in Bangladesh.
“Where on earth would you find the selected squad changed just hours before its departure to an all important tournament. This I believe has a huge impact on our performance. Thirimanne was not in the squad for a reason. He was out of the Test and One-Day sides because he had failed to provide that stability to the fragile middle-order. He needs to regain his confidence before coming back. But here we see him suddenly parachuted into the side, to please the interests of a few people,” he added.
Thirimanne was the best out of the lot during the two practice matches, leaving many to wonder whether the new cricket selectors led by Aravinda de Silva, made the right move. However, his performances thereafter are a complete contrast, having managed just 11 runs off his first two innings.
“The new selectors dropped Jeffery Vandersay at the eleventh hour, but recalled him when Lasith Malinga was ruled out, and played his first match within 24 hours from landing here. He bowled beautifully, giving a slap in the face to our selectors. So when the selectors make such blunders at the start of an important world tournament, what can you expect from the players,” he added.