Loads of spin options but not properly nurtured says Muralitharan
Sachithra Senanayake
Woung off spinner Akila Dhananjaya may have caused some ripples in the Indian armoury with his haul of six wickets last Thursday, but, no one in his right state of mind would say, that the Lankans do not have a problem in bowling in the present context. Yet, if you wish to delve into the crux of the matter who else is there other than magical Muttiah Muralitharan who cast a spell on the rest of the batting world till he finished with a haul of 800 Test wickets.
To the rest the cricketing world he is a true champion – for references just visit ICC’s hall of fame.
Muralitharan feels besides the talent of Akila Dhananjaya and Lakshan Sandakan the Lankan cupboard is full of spin talent and he sees no reason why they cannot get a lethal combination.
He said “Where are spinners in the calibre of Sachitra Senanayake, Jeffrey Vandersay and Ajantha Mendis. I say that Senanayake is a very talented bowler who has a lot to offer, but, he is not even heard of today. I am not quite sure if Ajantha Mendis has recovered from his injury, but, he too is good fodder in the local spinning larder.”
Muralitharan sees that the fault lies in our selection policies. “We keep chopping and cutting far too much. I wouldn’t even for a minute agree that we are short of bowling talent. But, the problem lies in how they are groomed.
Murali at SLPL
“For instance if a young bowler is impressive we must not rush him into the deep end. The novice bowler must initially be introduced against a weaker Test playing nation while playing at home. Then bowling under home conditions the bowler can gather his inner talent and confidance. Once they gather their inner self, they could be put on the real international stage.
“Somehow in this endeavour there are no quick fixes. First the bowlers have to be exposed in a proper manner and let them mature along the way. For that they must have consistency. The same goes with fast bowling and it has to happen gradually. First they must cut, their teeth with the ‘A’ team and then the process should start in that systematic way.”
When asked what sort of remedy he recommends for this sorry state of affairs in local and international cricket, Muralitharan said that he has been away from Lankan cricket affairs for the past seven years or so and he does not know exactly what’s going on.
But, Muralitharan was of the view that we should adopt a system similar to what his former captain Arjuna Ranatunge adopted at that time. He said “Arjuna believed grooming players. I can remember in 1989 when Sanath Jayasuriya came into the scene he was not delivering as expected. But Ranatunge had the hunch that the young left hander had it in him and for the next six years or so he carefully nurtured and saw to it that Jayasuriya grew up with the system. As expected by 1996 we had a good product in Jayasuriya.
Ajantha Mendis
“That is not the only instance, even Marvan Atapattu and Chaminda Vaas were groomed through the Ranatunga vision. So much so that the army of cricketers that he groomed looked after Sri Lanka’s cricket for the next twenty years. Even Kumar Sangakkara came into the system through Ranatunge’s tutelage. I owe a lot to him in my career too.
“I also vividly remember at one point of time young Mahela Jayawardena had a batting slump, but, Ranatunga did not dump him but instead he persisted with the promised talent and the ploy worked”
Muralitharan says may be the selectors’ job or the Sri Lanka cricket bosses or the Sri Lanka captain’s job should be done in the manner that Ranatunga did. The policies were consistent and the results are there to see. Yes, while doing that he may have made some mistakes along the way, but, the overall results speak for themselves.
Jeffrey Vandersay