Bury Bombay, Look to the Future
Posted on April 3rd, 2011
Dilrook Kannangara
It was a match to forget. Despite brilliant batting by Mahela, Kulasekara, Kumar, Dilshan and Perera and excellent bowling by Malinga, Team Sri Lanka lost. This is a good time to look to the future. It is time to separate genuinely skilled cricketers from average players. India managed to win after 28 years because it played all its matches home! However Sri Lanka played all its finals, three in number, in foreign grounds. It means there is greater hope for Lankans than Indians in 2015. A futuristic approach based on a scientific methodology is needed to put together a team that will do well in 2015 which will be held in Australia and New Zealand. Team records matter most, not personal records. Players with a good past performance record but with limited future potential must be dropped now.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Drop Murali, Tharanga, Kulasekera, Silva, Dilhara and Kapugedara
Cricket Sri Lanka should not renew their contracts. They are not going to be there in 2015 either due to age or due to poor performance so there is no point keeping them in the team or squad. Some of them may perform well in domestic tournaments but still there is no international cricket left in them unless the younger few prove otherwise. The decision when Murali should retire depends on Sri Lanka CricketƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s long term plans and certainly not on his personal plans alone. Same goes for the others. MuraliƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s farewell matches his below average performance!
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Not having Murali in the ODI side makes room for many young spinners to shine. The worth or cost/benefit of a player must be assessed not just on his performance, but also based on the opportunity cost of having him. Continuation of a player is only guaranteed if his performance minus the opportunity cost of having him is in positive territory.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Sri Lanka should develop fast bowlers. Domestic tournaments, although good, failed to attract the best fast bowler we have now – Malinga. Talented cricketers should be groomed from their school teams onwards and in addition there should be other avenues of picking good talent outside domestic tournaments.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Groom Perera for the Top Order
There are no big names in Sri Lankan team batting department except for a very few including Kumar, Mahela and Dilshan. Traditional thinking, petty preconceptions and absurd logic should not guide developing a good top order. Perera is well suited to the top order. The longer this fact is denied, the worse it will be for the team. He must be made an opener. If he repeatedly fails, that means there is a better player than him to do the job which is good. Ability to play spinners should not be a criterion to place a good batsman down the order. That is outdated thinking. If a top order batsman is uncomfortable playing spin, he should not be in the team! The team should not adjust according to the inabilities of its players!
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Recognize Mahela and Dilshan for their Fighting Spirit
It was heartening to see a few fighting hard to win amidst chaos. Mahela and Dilshan must be recognized for their fighting spirit and they must be given a say in selecting the team. It is not just about bat and the ball. Attitude and skills are both needed to win. Good players lacking an attacking mentality are good to coach school teams; and should not be in the national team.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Performance of players with bolstered averages and strike rates playing minnows and weaker teams must be discounted down. If the chance is given, most first class batsmen would do same or better.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Keep Detailed Records of All Matches
Records kept at various cricket archives are not complete. For instance a bowler taking wickets of highflying batsmen is far better than a bowler tearing down the lower order. A bowler must be credited with the average of the batsmen he got out in cricket records. Taking two top batsmen is surely more worthwhile than taking five lower order batsmen.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Runs scored against a good opposition is many times more valuable than runs scored against a weak team.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Not all catches are equal. Difficult catches must be recognized and dropped catches must also be recorded.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Detailed records of these must be kept by Sri Lanka Cricket.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This ensures transparency in selection and gives more tools to go by for the selectors.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Be Wary of Undesirable Possibilities without Paranoia
Cricket is no longer the gentlemenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s game it used to be due to heavy commercialisation and politicisation. So far Lankan cricketers managed to steer away from match-fixing, spot fixing, etc. However there is a real possibility of it happening. When Cronje confessed to conniving with bookmakers, the cricketing world was shocked. There is big money involved that can attract willing partners from a surprisingly wider scope. A tough stand on personal integrity and match fixing should be taken. Tough punishments including jail terms should be introduced for such acts.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Relevance of lucrative IPL contracts in the last world cup is just a conspiracy theory at the moment. However, there is the possibility of these happening even at a low level. Losing, retaining or winning an IPL contract is a big inducement for a player to comply with his pay masters. IPL is a very good system to financially support talented cricketers especially in Sri Lanka. Hundreds of thousands to a few million dollars for a season is big money for players from third world countries. Talented players must be encouraged to and certainly not discouraged from participate in IPL. However, at the same time a close watch must be kept on any possible collusion IPL contracted players may have with their patriotic Indian paymasters to alter the outcome of matches between national teams.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Another hilarious conspiracy theory is about the repeated poor performance of Tamil cricketers in crucial matches. Murali, Russel and Mathews have not performed well in crucial matches. From pulling out to lacklustre performance, their otherwise remarkable contribution was not seen in crucial matches. Theorists point out the possibility of various types of threats made to them by separatist elements. However, there is absolutely no evidence to support such hilarious suspicions. But again, there is the real possibility of it happening. Cricket has bridged the gap between all the major communities and it is definitely a major reconciliation tool. Elements trying hard to detail reconciliation within one unitary nation will surely try to disrupt anything that brings harmony. What is important is to keep a watchful eye of any possibility of this happening. Cricket should not suffer due to personal circumstances.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Politicians instructing cricketers about the desired outcome of matches is yet another conspiracy theory. Once again there is no evidence to prove this but it is sadly a possibility. Separating sport from politics at all levels is the way forward.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Final Should be Played in a Neutral Venue
ICC must be canvassed to hold the final of ICC World Cup in neutral venues. The last world cup final should have been held in Bangladesh, not India. Cricket world cup is not Olympics where the total tally comprises of hundreds of distinct events. However even in Olympics the host nation generally does very well!
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Curators of grounds are given enough leeway to prepare the ground and he may well use it to suit the team he supports. There is also the possibility of giving his favourite team a heads-up of how the pitch would behave which allows the team to concentrate specifically on these conditions a day or a few days ahead of the other team. Vettori expressed disappointment over the preparation of the pitch in Premadasa Stadium which he alleged was the same as for the match against England. It showed the extent of influence ground/pitch preparation has on the game. India managed win after 28 years later thanks to India playing all its matches in home grounds!
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Ground support may not play a huge part but still it counts. To assess the real champions, all other variables must be equal.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ After all it is just a cricket match! But winning it is desirable than losing. That is why Sri Lanka should look to 2015.
April 3rd, 2011 at 5:53 am
Dilrook,
This is ridiculous. Cannot agree to dropping Dilhara. He was a bowler discriminated by public forgetting his ability and application. If he was in Australia authorities would surely nurtured him carefully giving all the supports he need. Our stupid selectors kept dropping him based on reaction to each match results and promoting Kulasekara instead. He was selected to squad but never gien a chance even to play Canada.
He was the match winner in recent matches before world cup, but based on one match he was discriminated and dropped for ever. You must look at Dilhara compared to Mahela based on his ability. He can bowl at 150 kPh ( I have seen him bowling at that speed) and he was a match winner in many cases. But selectors did not support him but reacted to public sentiment just like your column here.
Also dont forget Malinga his considering retirement.
Also it is not practical to play the final in a nutria venue.
Besides these two points, I fully agree with you. Please read my comments to Kumarś article.
April 3rd, 2011 at 5:56 am
It is even more ridiculous to drop Tharanga. In fact he should be given more chances in test cricket.
April 3rd, 2011 at 4:52 pm
Dham,
Dilhara will not have much bolwing left at 36 in 2015. Even today he doesn’t make it to the team regularly. This is the time to introduce young blood and get ready for the future.
We deserve a better opener than Tharanga. We have solid #3 and #4. Tharanga is not comfortable playing at #5. SLC should not have him a contracted player. If he performs well in the domestics, introduce him back to ODIs. If he performs well bring him in again. Meanwhile bring more young players and groom them for the openers’ slot.
I didn’t mention about Herath and Mendis. Herath will not be of much use in another 4 years time, especially away from the subcontinent. Mendis will be migrating to Australia next year. We have to start replacing them now onwards.
Dilshan, Sanga and Mahela will be 37-38 years old in 2015. We certainly need their back-ups/replacements ready but they have a lot to do before retiring. They have to groom youngsters by playing alongside them. Some of them or all of them may be around to play in 2015 which is good.
In this case a neutral venue was certainly on the cards – Bangladesh. In the next WC too there will be the chance of a neutral venue – Australia or New Zealand. ICC should be canvassed to hold the final in a neutral venue. Nowadays ICC recognizes neutral umpires for all matches which is a change from how things were in the past.
With all due respect, I don’t see much value in dwelling in the past. We must move forward.
April 3rd, 2011 at 6:39 pm
You can’t say forget Bombay like that. We are very hurt. Country is very hurt. Must have a proper post mortem
Sangakkara got into the team using family connections after getting rid of Little Kalu who was a brillant wicket keeper and with Sanath they were the world’s best opening pair. This brought forth the down fall of Sri Lanka (after 1996 victory)
Sangakkara has a big mouth, knows how to speak to the camera very well, but fumbles behind the wickets. How many catches.stumpings/run outs has he missed, only God knows. Was very slow in playing the runs then blamed the team not scored 350 (to cover up his errors). These are cunning. corrupt creatures.
Mahlea is a Great Player.
Dilhara Fernando is such a fine player, never used him during world cup, but brought in Sanga’s blue eyed boys Kulasekera and Chamara Kapugedera came from no where for the Cup Final only. One could see the disspointments Dilhara and Ajantha had whille sitting on the bench.
Murlai was selfish. He wanted to go with at the World Cup Final at any cost. Never had a patritotic thought about the Country, but only himself. If he was only 60% fit why did he play. On the Cup Final Day he could not lift his back foot up. Our President , Sanga and all others stated that we must win the Cup for Murali. Wrong – we must win the Cup for the 21 million people who just came out of the cluthches of terrorism.
Perera must have been asked to bat prior to Kulasekera.
Russell Arnold must not be nominated as Sri Lanka’s representative commentator for Fox Sports. He never stated anything good about Sri Lanka, instead promoted Murali only. Best international Commentor we had – Gamini Gunasena. Ranjith Fernando was useless.
Sack Sangakkara and Aravinda NOW.
Duleep Mendis must be in charge of Sri Lanka Cricket.
Again, Dilshan must be the new Captain with Malinga as Vice Captain. Don’t appoint Matthews as Captain, he will be another Murali and Russel Arnold.
April 4th, 2011 at 3:17 am
Dilrook,
How can I agree with you on Dilhara ? There should be something you hate him. He is only 3 years older than Malinga. Both have similar strike rates ( Malinga a bit better.). But Malinga is retiring soon. Dilhara only played 140 ODIs. He is not a regular because of discrimination or something which I dont understand. How can I agree to drop him ? There will be no good bowlers left next year.
Same thing with Tharanga. Why should you sack him. He teamed with Dilshan to be the top opening pair. You got to help these people achieve their best. We are not doing it. We are keeping oldies for too long. Murali could have been forced to retire last year. Same with Jayasuriya and Vaas. Do you remember Vaass was given a test match to send him off. Unbelievably ridiculous. He did not take single wicket. These greedy individuals are detracting our cricket. Surely they are heroes. But they do not know how to retire. They become traitors. Murali was my heroe but now he is a traitor. He is now saying some days are bad. Rubbish. Still did not learn a lesson. How can you insult India in a world cup match with one leg ? He expected to earn wickets ! What a bloody fool he is .
April 4th, 2011 at 8:33 pm
Dham,
You make some very valid points, and in particular, about SL’s practice of keeping the oldies on for too long and well past their ‘use by’ dates.
Murali has been a fine servant of SL cricket and it is only right to show appreciation for all his efforts. But all this business of ‘let’s win the Cup for Murali’ (which even the President could not resist echoing) was misplaced and irrelevant – the team was meant to be playing for the country, not for any one individual. And that meant fielding a team of fit players. Murali was clearly not match fit and was visibly labouring on the field. His bowling has been on the decline in recent years – other teams had worked out how to counter his wiles – and even in the two quarter final games he only captured 4 wickets conceding in excess of 5 runs per over. So, even on his recent form he promised little. The SL bowling attack is not so strong to be able to carry a ‘passenger’, and Murali did himself and the team an injustice in playing when he was not fit to do so. Small wonder he returned match figures of 8 overs for 39 runs (at an average of close to 5 runs an over), for not a single wicket.
Now that Mumbai is behind us and the process of rebuilding the team for the future is being considered, here’s a thought for those involved to consider. It seems to me that SL should aim at having a specialist wicketkeeper – that is a wicketkeeper who is also not the captain. In saying this, I am not unaware that Dhoni has filled the dual role with success. But combining the two roles can become challenging if you don’t have a strong enough team and you have to make quick, strategic decisions on the field when things are getting tough. A captain has enough on his plate in having to make the right bowling changes, setting the appropriate field, keeping an eye on the over rates and using the power plays at the most suitable time. To burden him with the extra responsibility of wicket-keeping is asking for too much. On Saturday it was critical during the Indian innings that the wicketkeeper was at his sharpest and I could not help feeling that the extra responsibilities Sangakkara had outside that role did affect his ‘keeping to some degree.
April 4th, 2011 at 9:59 pm
I don’t agree with what you say about Dilhara. He is a fine cricketer. Don’t know about 2015 but for now he should play. Fully agree on Taranga. He failed in 2007 final and 2011 final. He is useless. His 20 balls 1 run in power play is the main reason for the defeat. Had the fool scored at least 5 runs an over, the target would have been 15 runs more.
Murali’s balling was poor. Dhoni picked his doosra from IPL tournament experience. But he kept the run rate low in the game. Kula and Perera gave away too many runs. Sanga didn’t encourage the team. He was silent. Useless captain. Just show off. Sack him as captain. Why did he send Kula ahead of Perera? Perera is an all rounder. Kula is only a baller. Jayasuriya should have played not Kapu. Indians can’t play his left arm spin. He got the breakthrough against India in 1996. Few boundaries from the bat.
April 5th, 2011 at 1:43 am
Dilrook,
SL is a good team but why do you try to run down India as if it depended only on it’s home advantage for the victory. Like SL, India has also qualified thrice to World Cup finals two of them in neutral venues and winning in one of those(in England). If you really think neutral venues will decide fair winner, why not extend the same logic to quarter finals and semi finals also in which case SL might not have made it to the finals itself. I am not trying to take anything away from SL, but the fact of the matter is SL benefitted hugely from it’s slow surfaces and the battery of slow bowlers it possesses. Compared to this, India played on much better tracks and much better teams than what SL had to face in the whole tournament. So give credit where it is due…
April 5th, 2011 at 3:23 am
Under Sangakkara Sri Lanka will never win a world cup
Under Aravinda Sri Lanka will never win a world cup
Chamara Kapugedera fumbled so badly in the field Indians were benefitted with so many boundaries
Sangakkara is a bad wicket keeper. In his career he has missed so many catches, stumpings and run outs but covers himself with deceit
Leaving such a fine bowler as Dilhara on the bench was a ‘crime’
Chamara Silva is a much better batsman than Chamara Kapugedera. Chamara Silva should have played in the final. He played good shots in the latter part of the tournament after having temporarily recovered from the family bereavement
Upul Tharanga wasted 20 balls to score 2 runs. This is inexcusable.
Upul Tharanga is not good for one day matches
Samaraweera should never be included in a one day team
Sangakkara’s 48 was too slow. Then he blamed 274 was too little
274 was a good score (thanks to Mahela), as Sangakkara stated 350 was not required
Mahela, Dilshan and Malinda are the only natural born cricketers. Sanath is another
It is a joke that everyone who had cut Sanath Jayasuriya into pieces now says good things about him. Typical Sri Lankan way
Muralidaran is not God
If we want to win one day matches must have good all rounders. Ruchira Perera must be groomed to open batting with Dilshan
Must persuade Malinda to continue to play. he must be a very dejected man, after bowling so well in the whole tournament
DS De Silva is ok but not the Dandeniya brothers
Duleep Mendis is a gentleman and not a show off (biggest show off is Sangakkara)
At the New Zealand semi final happy that Sangakkara spoke few words in Sinhala. but why did he address the people as “oya gollo”? Shows the distance with the people. Shows his arrogance and superiority complex (not good)
Ana Punchihewa may be a good person to lead Sri Lanka cricket
April 5th, 2011 at 3:23 pm
Kumar Sangakkara resigning from captaincy made the following statement.
“I would like to announce that after careful consideration I have concluded that it is in the best long-term interests of the team that I step down now as national captain so that a new leader can be properly groomed for the 2015 World Cup in Australia.
“This was a decision I made prior to the 2011 World Cup. I will be 37 by the next World Cup and I cannot therefore be sure of my place in the team. It is better that Sri Lanka is led now by a player who will be at the peak of their career during that tournament.”
The correct line of thinking. A good decision albeit a bit too soon. He’s a great cricketer, a gentleman but not a very good captain. Other things may have influenced but this is the most logical reason he stated. Older cricketers played but that is the exception not the norm. For instance Khan won the WC at 39 but that’s exceptional and subsequently Pakistan cricket didn’t do well. Most importantly he should peak at the next tournament. The next big challenge is to find a captain. Consistency is needed at the top. We cannot end up like Pakistan with so many captains within a short spate of time. But in the interim we need a good captain to groom the next captain.
He should play as long as he can and should sharpen his keeping skills. We thank him for his contribution to the team as captain and wish him all the best.
April 5th, 2011 at 5:45 pm
I don’t think Kumar will leave. This looks like a gimmick. Like PB Jayasundera in the Tressury, he will come back soon as captain.
Lots of people say we should be proud that we were the runners up. But, the whole world talks only about the World Champions (India) and not us. This wiil be the case for the next 4 years. We will soon be forgotten. In 2007 we gave up the Championship to Australia because our team management did not know the rules. Sufficient number of overs had not been balled when bad light crept in. Our idiots (including the then Captian Mahela) agreed to play in total darkness. According to the rules, it was an abandoned match – means the cup should have been shared between Australia and Sri Lanka, or a 2nd match should have been organised. Our idiots gave into to Australian pressure and obvioulsy and knowingly they played and lost. This time (2011) we could have easily won the Cup, if not for the incompetence of Sanga, Chamara Kapugedera and Kulasekera. It was a very selfish act for Murali to play with an injured leg.
April 5th, 2011 at 8:10 pm
Kumar Sangakkara has always conducted himself with dignity and acceptance and in addition to leading Sri Lanka cricket as well as he has, has been an excellent ambassador abroad for his country. One should not, when evaluating the contribution of a national captain, overlook the great impact for the national good that a captain makes when he leads his side overseas. Such things do matter.
In deciding to resign from the one day game at this time KS has done the right thing. He’s taken the loss in Mumbai with good grace and shown courage in resigning the captaincy. It is uncharitable and unworthy to suggest his offer of resignation is only a gimmick.
By the way, while we are all disappointed that SL lost the game and talk about the things we think SL did wrong in Mumbai, let us not be so mean spirited to not recognise that India did not win by default. Let us be realistic and acknowledge the talent and the skill of the Indian players and the successful manner in which they were employed.
April 7th, 2011 at 8:45 pm
Cassendra,
All you said is correct. But Sanga unfortunately resign and Ararvinda fortunately resigned,what can you say to Aravind’s defience of playing Murali with one leg ? He says Murali is better than all other players even with one leg.
Now only I realised what a stupid man he is. We lost because of him.
April 8th, 2011 at 12:21 am
If Kumar Sangakkara is genuine he should resign now, not after the English and Ausatralian tours. He knows by then everything will be forgotten about the World Cup. Sanga is playing a Mervyn Silva resignation. Sanga a very poor captain and had sometimes being disgrace to the Nation. Sends so many bokkus and missed opportunities (catches and stampings). If he is appointed because of his English, well then appoint him as an English Professor not Sri Lanka Captain. Sanga appeals for hora outs knowingly they are hora outs. He teaches the up and coming young players to cheat – remember how he abused final Randeev at the WC for not appealing when it was not out. Poor Randiv did not know what to do – Captain asking him to make hora appeals. I think Sanga had been punished for abusing other western cricketers and doing dodgy things behind the wicket. After he became Captain he reformed himself. Sanga never encourages the fielders from behind the wicket saying things things that Kaluwitharana used to say “lami den hondata allanna etc”. Dilshan encourages other players. Dilshan may abuse others only when others are useless like Kulasekera and Kapugedera. When Murali abuses others in utmost filth it is still good for everyone, they only have a problem with Dilshan, who is a really down to earth man. Matthews is not a permanent cadre of the team to be appointed as Captain. He is too young any way and untested material. Samaraweera should never be allowed to step into a one day side. Dilshan for Captain Malinga for Vice Captain.