Championing a cause and Mathews’ challenge
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As mundane sports loving people, how happy and proud we felt when Sri Lanka beat India in their first round Champions Trophy tie in London. Truly it was one of the most remarkable achievements in the cricketing annals for more reasons than one.First, the Lankans beat India which is considered the most professional cricketing outfit on earth. They are the richest cricketing entity in the world, and thus have pumped in millions upon millions of dollars towards taking and maintaining the game to the levels or better than of Australia, South Africa and England.
Besides they have their own IPL which is now acts like talent unearthing machine — and to fuel that exercise they employ the best of the world cricketing talent. For them the price is no barrier. If it fits their bill, an IPL franchise would even go to the extent of closing the deal for an undisclosed sum – prior to the real player auction is set in motion. Such is their buying power.
As a result, the Indian cricket system has begun to thrive. Now it is not a system that depended upon a composition fuelled by players such as Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Lakshman and Virender Sehwag. Through the IPL system, India keeps breeding a type of cricketer who could hit sixes like Chris Gayle, bowl as fast as Pat Cummins or deliver spin specials like their own hero Ravichandran Ashwin.
At the same time, even the Indian fielding prowess has increased several fold. A country which was not famous for its fielding at one stage of history is today one of the best.
At the IPL, the Indians always went for the best. But besides Lankan champion Lasith Malinga, no other Lankan managed to capture the imagination of the Indians in their T-20 melee on a permanent basis.
In short, the Indians had very little time for Sri Lankan cricket, in spite of learning bitter lessons even in the past like what happened in the ICC T-20 final in Bangladesh in 2014.
'Remember the name' was probably what skipper Angelo Mathews was trying to say out with his bat after the game was won vs India
After the game, India’s captain Virat Kohli said that when you are playing in the Champions Trophy taking on champions you cannot afford to take a side for granted. Even prior to the game, Kohli went on record saying, “We want our team to guard against complacency on the eve of the match against Sri Lanka. At the moment we are playing some good cricket, but that doesn’t mean that we play with arrogance. We respect every opposition the same way, and we intend to play the same kind of cricket against everyone.”
Yet, some thought that going into the game without their best bowling exponent Ashwin, Kohli committed a cardinal sin. Generally, left armer Ravindra Jadeja bowls in tandem with Ashwin. On Thursday, the ball was cut in half and even Jadeja looked very ordinary in that placid track.
In hindsight, for Sri Lanka this was a great win, especially for skipper Angelo Mathews and Coach Graham Ford. Yes, they are on a pedestal at present, but, in reality they are not the darlings of the system. But, prior to the tournament, we said about Ford’s knowledge about Kennington Oval surface and the Lankans worked according to the plan.
We know for sure that even Mathews is not the darling of the system. Upon his win, there was more flushing out of pumped in pressure than winning pleasure. It was a clear message of mission accomplished in the post-win picture that we have published today. Remember, he even pointed to his name tag in the T-shirt with his bat, no sooner the match was won.
Grapevine says Mathews was almost to play even the first match that Sri Lanka lost. Both Mathews and Ford had given their consent, but, selector Asanka Gurusinha on tour was against the inclusion.
Nevertheless, once again Mathews proved that he has the charisma to shepherd his flock. Invariably Ford’s instruction would have been not to lose the grip of the situation. In spite of docility of the wicket and opener Shikhar Dhawan holding his bat like a whip, Mathews managed to keep things at manageable levels. Commenting after the game, Mathews said, “On a wicket of this nature 321 runs always could be chased. I think we did well to limit the Indian total to that score”.
The other magical note in that win was that besides Mathews, the others were the junior brigade that pushed the Lankans towards the victory. Now some talk of ‘the arrival of Dhanushka Gunatilleke’, but he has been around with the same talent hidden in his torso. But, we wonder why Upul Tharanga was preferred as an opener. We feel that the combination of Niroshan Dickwella and Dhanushka Gunatilleke would be a better investment for the future. Kusal Mendis and Kusal Perera took the fight to the Indians. Yet, Asela Gunaratne’s sweep for six against the pace of Bumrah was something extra special.
At the same time the bowling of pacie Lahiru Kumara who has excelled in English conditions would have been a better investment than playing an injury prone, aging Malinga. In the twenty overs that he has bowled so far Malinga has figures of 20-0-127-2 – very ordinary, not mentioning the Fuf du Plessis catch that Malinga missed at a vital stage of the match against South Africa.
Today’s match between South Africa and India and tomorrow’s Sri Lanka vs Pakistan will be virtual quarterfinal ties. However, the only problem is the Lankans will not know the contours of the Cardiff wicket in much colder Wales.
Nevertheless, for the game on Monday, the Lankans will have their own share of problems. It is heartbreaking to change a winning combination, but, the injury of Kusal Perera has forced a change for Monday.
Upon the win Mathews said, “When we went in for the tournament, not many people believed that we even had a chance. But, that took the pressure off us. But, now we have to put our shoulders together and make a match of it on Monday”.