by Aravinda Samarasinghe :
Well, it wasn’t entirely surprising and it was the kind of performance expected from them given how they had fared over the last 12 – 24 months. The Sri Lankan cricket team could never string a series of consistent performances, always changing tactics and strategies, chopping and changing team composition and not really showing r any kind improvement in all departments. Looking at squad selection, it also evidently clear that some blunder of selections did contribute to the performances. Then of course there are the players, some of the players who were regarded as the best in the country went out of the way to prove they were not worthy of being selected. Combine all of this and a recipe for disaster was created.
Looking at squad selection, it also evidently clear that some blunder of selections did contribute to the performances.
Sri Lanakn teams on field as well as off field performances had been declining for sometime. There is no single but rather a combination of a few things that has contributed to this decline. Administrators to players current and past should take some of the responsibility for this. First of all, the big elephant in the room, The SLC administration has not shown any, planning, purpose or any aim to raise the bar. Players are pressured one way another to perform. Constant inclusion of new players but not providing them with a proper consistent run created environment of pressure.. Selections based on favorations but not based on performance or merit is a breeding ground for subpar performances. This was clearly evident in the recent past.
In this world cup Sri Lanka has included some surprise selections. So surprising that it made English Captain Eoin Morgan comment on it. There were players who hadn’t played international cricket for sometime being brought in just for this tournament. Kind of like how a school yard team would pick players just to make the 11. And there was a word buzzing around explaining these inclusions from selectors. – ” a 3D player” . To-date no one in the cricketing world is sure what that even means. 3D or 4D Sri Lanka definitely lacks a proper all rounder in the team. If not someone in the calibre of Shakib Al Hassan or Ben Stokes they at least needs someone close to Hardik Pandya. Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera were supposed to fill that role but Angelo isn’t bowling due to long term fitness concerns while Thisara a 10 year veteran of the game is still playing like a 17 year old showing zero improvement in both batting, bowling, fielding and cricketing knowledge. He tonks through an inning here and there when there is no pressure or during a lost cause to keep the selectors and fans at bay, and his bowling has hardly any impact. With that sort of a combination it is hard to win games in the modern era.
…..Thisara a 10 year veteran of the game is still playing like a 17 year old showing zero improvement in both batting, bowling, fielding and cricketing knowledge …..
People were excited and hope was in the air after beating England they would make it to the top four. But honestly did they deserve to be in the top four ? No, a mediocre team riding on the back of luck does not deserve to be in the top four. England game was a one off and Sri Lanka rode much of it on luck and the back of a good bowling performance by Malinga, Pradeep, Dananjaya and Udana. The wicket also played it’s part. The wicket behaved totally opposite to what was expected and took England by surprise. Angelo’s innings there was highlighted but to be honest it would have been a reason for the loss had England batted a bit more smartly. Angelo’s scoring rate was unusually slow in that innings to his standards. And he was lucky to take a wicket in his first ball against West Indies. There was nothing out of the ordinary from Mathews in this world cup but he is or at least was capable of a lot more than that.
Avishka Fernando is perhaps the best thing that happened to Sri Lanka team in this world cup. He is one of the best finds of this world cup among all teams
Avishka Fernando is perhaps the best thing that happened to Sri Lanka team in this world cup. He is one of the best finds of this world cup among all teams. It is frustrating to think why selectors did not opt to play him from the beginning in the first place. If Avishka played at no.3 against Australia after Sri Lanka had that brilliant start, who knows what could have happened.. His technique, approach and hitting power are a perfect combination a good batsman should posses. Hope he will continue his success for a long time and do not fall like a few players we have seen in the past.
It was indeed a great privilege to watch him bowl for Sri Lanka over the years and we are thankful for the memories.
There is no doubt that Lasith Malinga is the best strike bowler Sri Lanka has at this point in time Malinga has won games in the past and he struck a couple of times in this tournament too. He is on the verge of retirement but has SLC got a succession plan? There were no proper plans or systems in place to replace any of the great retirees and it is fair to assume nothing will change in the coming months. . It will be essential to find some new talent in the calibre of Malinga. It was indeed a great privilege to watch him bowl for Sri Lanka over the years and we are thankful for the memories.
“It almost looked like the team was not expecting winning but premeditated the excuses that the fans would not argue or disagree. “
There were complaints about pitches and conditions in the early stages of the tournament, that Sri Lanka was given pitches with lots of grass that was not suitable for such a tournament or the team combinations. Was that really the case ? The way the other teams played and how the ball behaved it was hardly a justifiable excuse. It almost looked like the team was not expecting winning but premeditated the excuses that the fans would not argue or disagree. That was a good excuse even for the selectors to get out of the blame. Looking at the last game against India how Sri Lanka played it was evident we are no longer in the league of proper contestable ODI standards. Indian batsmen like Rohit Sharma has taken run scoring to another level. If this last cameo of innings by Angelo Mathews & Lahiru Thirmanna has deceived selectors, administrators and fans then good luck to Sri Lanka Cricket.
Cover Image Courtesy : Islandcricket.lk