| This is the real post Murali-Vaas era in Test cricket for Sri Lanka. In our last outing with Murali, the Lankans convincingly beat the present top dogs in cricket, India, at the same ground that Chris Gayle manhandled the Lankan bowlers.
The last game where the Lankans beat the Indians became the last occasion so far that the former, playing on their home soil, managed to bag all twenty of their opponent’s wickets. They did so for the cost of 614 runs. In the very next match the Indians ran amok with a total of 707 runs to draw the test. In the next outing India beat Sri Lanka while only losing fifteen wickets for the cost of 694 runs and in the first innings of the West Indian game the bowling was taken for 580 by a team whose fortunes in Test cricket are presently dwindling.
This means that in the four innings that the Lankans have bowled since then they have given away 1981 runs to bag 34 wickets, which works to almost 58.25 runs per wicket.
Chaminda Vaas |
At the initial stages of the West Indian innings, both Chris Gayle and Adrian Barath were struggling, but both Lankan seam bowlers Thilan Thushara and Dhammika Prasad lacked the art of converting batting doubts into wickets, the result was the repetition of what Colombo experienced a few days ago, except that in this case instead of water it was raining fours and sixes.
So it was with a tentative and heavy head that I met Murali’s career partner Chaminda Vaas – by far the most successful seam bowler that Sri Lanka has ever produced.
Vaas explained how his combination with Murali worked beyond the boundary line.
“We understood each other well. I knew my job was to keep one side tight and build up the pressure while at the other end Murali kept sending the batsmen home. Finally we ended up taking more than a thousand wickets for Sri Lanka – Murali 800 and myself finishing up with 350 wickets. Ironically I cannot see that happening now. There is no penetration in our bowling.”
Vaas described taking wickets as an art and explained how he became one of the early strikers who regularly bagged a scalp or two within the first five overs. He said, “First comes learning how to land the ball in the right areas and also learning how to outthink the batsman. If they play and miss twice I know that I can get their wickets. Then with a subtle change in direction either he is standing right in front of the stumps or has completely missed the in coming ball. I remember Chris Gayle who scored a triple century in Galle used to fall for my ploys very regularly.”
Then Vaas said that Lasith Malinga could be described as the only international class bowler since the departure of Murali and he, but asked, “How long is he going survive with his action? Playing five-day cricket is not easy. Your fitness levels have to be at the peak. Playing Malinga in both Test and the shorter forms of the game will be a huge ask for Sri Lanka cricket. At this juncture, the World Cup is around the bend – then are we going to risk Malinga in Test Cricket?”
When asked what he thinks of the rung of fast bowlers on the periphery and how they are going to fit into the equation Vaas lamented, “Yes, we have a battery of fast bowlers on the wing, but I am rather concerned about their training schedule. For the past two months we have had no cricket. I feel that is the time that they have to do the gym work, start shaping into their physical peak by swimming, running etc. But, I see them at the nets in the morning, noon and afternoon. When they start bowling with this regularity they are not going to be physically fit. When they have an off season what they have to do is build themselves up and be ready for the next season.
“They must start bowling with about three weeks to go for the next tournament. Then the building up they have during the off season will help them to be at their peak and be injury free. But what happens here is when it comes to a match, after all that bowling at the nets, the bowler falls victim to injury the moment they stretch a little too much. I see even the bowlers in the national pool going through the same regime and at times working like net bowlers.”
Talking about his own fitness level, Vaas said that he missed the sixth Test that he was scheduled to play through an injury, but thereafter for nearly fifteen years of international cricket, he never missed a match through injury.
Vaas is of the view that one cannot change bowlers and bowling actions when they are already in the top hub of cricket. He says that cricketers play cricket from under 13 level and there, at that time, they should mould their action.
Then it is up to the coaches to let them develop as they are and only hone their wicket taking skills. But, he says most fast bowlers change to the short-lever of delivery through which they can generate more pace, but he thinks this is a waste of time. “It is not exactly pace that brings you wickets, it is the skill that you posses to out-manoeuvre the batsman. Pace is only an added advantage. If you put all your concentration on it you may lose direction. Once again the coaches can tell you, but it is you who finally perform in the middle.”
At this juncture we popped the question if Sri Lanka could maintain this momentum in world cricket, where they are perched third in the Test rankings and the second in the ODI rankings. Vaas said, “Since we won the World Cup in 1996 our cricket has been on an upward trend. Somehow we must find ways of maintaining this momentum. The cricketers alone may not be able to do it. The whole cricketing machine will have to shoulder the task and see to it that round plugs are put in round holes.”
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