 It was, by and large, the most successful cricket tournament in the history of cricket. Especially as it was played in the cricket-crazy Indian subcontinent, surely that would have been watched by more than a billion people in India alone.
India – the ultimate victors -- had their own selection problems with chief selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth locking horns with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni over the inclusion of injured fast bowler Ashish Nehra, the selection of Piyush Chawla and the non inclusion of lanky off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. So much so that it was also suggested in some Indian newspapers that skipper Dhoni did not attend practices in one or more sessions after his splats with the chief selector.
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| Test squad’s most experienced bowler – Dilhara Fernando’s bowling average of 36.22 is more akin to that of a top order batsman. |
Then in the final, running against the wind, Dhoni who had a mediocre run up to the final, elevated himself to No 5 and the mantra worked. He scored 91 and the pre-match splats and all other paraphernalia were swept under the closest rug and everybody enjoyed a piece of cake at the victory celebration.
The Indians may have more than one stutter in their run to the final. The Lankans, despite their setback against Pakistan, to whom they lost by eleven runs, looked battle ready at every turn. Even at their washed-out effort against the Australians, they were well perched at 146 for 3 in the 32nd over when rains made the rest of the game history.
Yet what happened just before the final and how they lost the game is yet a hot bar stool topic and now we hear that it may have been a team vs selectors affair that came acrop at the final. Still we say the Lankans scored 274 and then missed two vital catches of Gambhir and Dhoni and concocted the perfect losing ingredient.
Now since the triumph, the Indians seem to have passed their hatchet on to the Lankans. Generally, the Lankans do not grovel upon defeat. They take it on the stride and may be if a change is needed they made it. In 1999 when Sri Lanka failed to enter even the quarter finals while defending the 1996 World Cup title such changes were effected and the people who faced it were in the calibre of Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda de Silva. Yet those moves did not emanate such a stink.
On the contrary, the present crisis is aggravated by resignations, mishandling of issues and retirements – all which had reasons more than one.
After Kumar Sangakkara, the mantle has gone over to T.M. Dilshan. Yet if Dilshan is not available or indisposed, the cap will go back to Sangakkara. Personally, I think it is a good move and it should be pursued even after Angelo Mathews is back at least for some time.
Then undue pressure will not be on Mathews. Still young, he will go on learning the tricks of the trade while there is a balance in the power camps at the top. If Angelo is thrust upon the top there is a likelihood of him being steam-rolled by the peer pressure and the dressing room politics. This alone may thaw the promising young blocks’ attitude towards the game.
In the Test segment the Lankans are bound to face huge problems with the seam team. The squad comprises four specialist fast bowlers led by Dilhara Fernando.
Fernando has been with the Lankan seniors for eleven years, but has played in only thirty five tests bagging 90 wickets with a high per-wicket average of 36.22, more akin to a batting average of a top order batsman.
Suranga Lakmal with two Tests and Chanaka Welagedera six have a total of 15 wickets between them while promising Nuwan Pradeep is yet to bowl in a Test. I wonder if this foursome could pose a threat to the English batsmen who are playing at home. There is hardly anyone here that one could cast as a strike bowler.
Once again the spin department of Suraj Randiv, Rangana Heart and Ajantha Mendis too does not look awe-inspiring for the Lankan cause.
The only match winner left in the fray, Lasith Malinga, has chosen the path of safety citing the treatment that he underwent in 2008 (during the tenure of Arjuna Ranatunga as the chairman of the SLC’s interim committee) during which he was left-in-the-lurch for a prolonged period. Sri Lanka now will have to start building its castle over again.
We hear in certain forums past cricketers and their acolytes tearing the system into pieces and singing to the gallery with songs coated with cynicism. Are they doing good to the cause of the game? No. What they aspire is the sceptre so that they could rule the roost in the cash-rich game.
Now, it is the time that Sri Lanka cricket does need help. It needs help and it needs it really fast.
In the past decade or more it has been the bowlers who have brought Sri Lanka the majority of its victories and that fact itself rooted the aggressive mode of play that the Sri Lankan cricket inculcated. More often than not, the Lankan bowlers have restricted the top drawer batting line-ups to a gettable score or once the batters give the bowlers a target they keep the opposition in check and rake in the positive results.Still the Lankan batting looks strong. Yet, if the batsmen feel that there are no positives in their being among the runs as the bowlers are not capable of capturing twenty wickets in a game they too will lose their morale.
There is no use pointing your fingers at any administrator. Every administrator in the post-’96 era is responsible for this situation. This situation did happen gradually. Every bad sod they cut under their own feet has contributed to this situation.
Maybe the Sangakkara and Malinga episodes accelerated the process, but, it may have come even a bit later.
In the near future the Lankans have to face England, Australia, Pakistan and South Africa in-a-row. Leave the Test championships alone, Sri Lanka which is perched at fourth place right now in the Test ranking must see where they would be at the end of this year – a situation which they cast upon themselves through their own short-sighted and selfish attitude towards the game.
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