by Rex Clementine
It’s been a refreshing two months following the Sri Lankan cricket team. They were a breath of fresh air. A far cry from the sloppy, sluggish and unattractive team that featured in the World Cup and finished an awful ninth costing themselves a place in the Champions Trophy. Five series wins inside two months is no mean task, but some will always say that it was Afghanistan and Zimbabwe and bigger challenges are ahead in a couple of months’ time. Point granted.
But the problem is Sri Lanka hardly looked threatening during the World Cup and were comprehensively beaten by both Bangladesh and Afghanistan. This time around, Sri Lanka did not let Afghanistan off the hook and if not for Lyndon Hannibal’s blunder at Dambulla they would have finished things off with flying colours beating the Afghans in seven straight games.
Having proper leaders has certainly worked for Sri Lanka in recent months. For decades we had picked the team and then chosen the leader. But the previous selection committee made an exception. They picked the captain first and then then the team. And Dasun Shanaka was no Mike Brearley or Ian Chappell. The results were disastrous. The selectors didn’t have the courage to sack the captain even after he had become a liability going through an extended lean patch. This resulted in deep divisions within the team as seen during the World Cup. Gloom was written all over the Sri Lankan camp and it’s no surprise they had such a horrendous tournament.
The previous selection committee also need to explain why they didn’t allow Dhananjaya de Silva to succeed Dimuth Karunaratne ahead of the new World Test Championship cycle. Dimuth in fact urged the selectors to announce a new captain prior to the series against Pakistan last year. You wonder whether the selectors had an axe to grind with DDS. But no one will have a bone to pick with DDS for he is such a likeable fellow. Small minds in big places is the only answer.
SLC received a lot of flak for the team’s poor show during the World Cup, but the fact of the matter is you can’t blame the board for they had not meddled with the affairs of the team entrusting the professionals who had been put in place would do an honest job. Those professionals sadly behaved like amateurs and failed us all.
So, what’s ahead of the team in Bangladesh. If they continue to push for excellence in fielding, bat with aggression and try to knock off the opposition without containing them, there’s no reason why they should cruise past the hosts.
There will be challenges though for the team. They will be without captain Wanindu Hasaranga, who has been suspended for the first two games. They will feel the absence of Pathum Nissanka too, who is nursing a hamstring injury. Also missing is strike bowler Dushmantha Chameera, who is not fully fit but he should be alright for the IPL. Priorities in life matters.
Injury to Nissanka sees the return of Avishka Fernando. You always get the feeling that successive selection panels have not got the best out of Avishka. A player of his kind tends to get out early but these are the kind of batters who live by the sword and die by the sword. When you see someone like him you should be prepared to give the long rope but selectors have shown little patience over the years. And sadly Avishka, unlike some others, doesn’t have any godfathers in cricket.The national cricket team left for Dhaka yesterday.