Sri Lanka's prospects looks exciting
February 5, 2011, 3:03 pm
As the ICC Cricket World Cup draws closer, the backers for Sri Lanka to go all the way in the competition are growing. The latest to join the list is two time World Cup winner Mathew Hayden. While there are several factors that put Kumar Sangakkara’s side as leading contenders, the sharp decline of Australia cricket following the retirement of several stars has made them along with India the side to beat in the tenth edition of the ICC World Cup. While the present team may not have the batting depth of Arjuna Ranatunga’s 1996 heroes, the batting trio of Tillekeratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene turn out to be a formidable combination possessing an excellent record which is exceptional in the sub-continent.
Left-handed opener Upul Tharanga hardly gets anyone’s notice, but he was the match winner for Sri Lanka in the second ODI against West Indies on Thursday notching up his ninth ODI hundred. And guess what, he has scored more hundreds than Dilshan, who has eight, in ODIs. Dilshan’s forte is to smash everything, but Tharanga has been consistent. After the game addressing the media, he gave insight to some of Sri Lanka’s strategy during cricket’s flagship event.
"The team management and the captain had a chat with me and said that what they expect from me is to, if I get a start, to bat 40 to 45 overs. They said they would be happy if I get 80 or 90 runs by that stage and that’s what I am trying to do," Tharanga said.
Playing anchor was a role that Marvan Atapattu fulfilled for the national team for several years with quite a bit of success and with attacking batsmen like Sanath Jayasuriya and Aravinda de Silva around, that was a ploy that worked perfectly and if Tharanga could do the same role, the main trio of the current team could prosper.
The present side may not have the batting depth of the 1996 World Cup winning team (current lower middle order has been untested), but the bowling makes ample amends for the weakness in batting.
Lasith Malinga in the last World Cup almost won Sri Lanka a game that was lost with a stunning spell of fast bowling where he claimed four wickets in four balls (Against South Africa in Guyana). While teams have struggled to cope with Malinga’s slingy action, he has mastered reverse swing as well which makes him even more deadly and the set batsmen can be unsettled when he returns for his second spell as he has proved time and again, more recently in the second ODI against the West Indies.
Angelo Mathews could be the star for Sri Lanka in this World Cup with his all-round abilities and he has been earmarked as the player to watch during the tournament. Tissara Perera is another player who has done exceptionally well from the limited opportunities he has got and he too will be keen to make his mark. This will be a make or break tournament for two players. There seems to be little public support for Chamara Kapugedara and Dilhara Fernando. Kapugedara, of course doesn’t seem to have done too much wrong as he has not got an opportunity to bat regularly up in the order and his average can’t be found fault with when he is left with the death overs to take a few chances. Where he becomes extremely crucial for the side is with his fielding and the Sri Lankans certainly need him on the field for they are overall a poor fielding side.
Fernando no doubt brings pace, but he has been a let down at crucial moments and the argument that whether he should be in the side with the existing Free Hit Rule for overstepping is an interesting one.
Another area where the 1996 team had an edge over the current side is their exceptional fielding and this discipline could hurt the Sri Lankans in the final analysis as there are few slow movers in the squad.
Yet another aspect that will worry them is that they haven’t had sufficient match practice at the World Cup venues. They have never played a game at Hambantota and Pallekele while chasing under lights at R. Premadasa could still pose a few problems.
.ක්රිකට් වර්ල්ඩ් කප් එකට සම්බන්ධ දේවල් මේකෙ දාපල්ල හොඳේ .
