Dinesh Karthik, the India wicket-keeper batsman, was at the strike. Soumya Sarkar – a part-time medium bowler of Bangladesh – ran in and bowled almost-a-yorker-length delivery wide of the off stump. Karthik, who looked as calm as a cucumber and timing the ball well, watched it like a hawk and hit it over the fielder at extra cover with a lower trajectory. As a testimony to Mini-Karthik’s power and timing, the ball went over the rope. Just as the ball passed boundary rope, the whole stadium erupted in joy. Turning into a giant party of including various versions of the Cobra dance celebrations.
These were the last moments of the Nidahas Trophy T20I Tri-Series which was held to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the independence in Sri Lanka. It was the final between India and Bangladesh. India desperately needed five runs to win in the last delivery of the match. Karthik delivered. India Won. Bangladeshis were heartbroken.
Sans Cricket, There is nothing extraordinary or unbelievable about the above paragraph. Except it was the crowd at the Colombo’s R. Premadasa Stadium that went mad after India won. It was the Sri Lankan crowd that supported India. Anyhow, Regardless of how that support towards India will pan out in the future, Sri Lankan fans should question why they had left with no option, but to support India.
Sri Lanka had just finished a brilliant tour to Bangladesh under the new coach Chandika Hathurusinghe, and with India resting Virat Kohli and a couple of others, began the tournament as favourites. And, they won the first game against India in style thanks to Kusal Perera and the bowlers. Sri Lanka was on top in the second game against Bangladesh at the halfway mark. All they had to do was to defend a total over 200 to secure a place in the final even before the halfway stage of the tournament. Somehow, everything went wrong for Sri Lanka from that moment. They didn’t even reach the final after losing all the remaining games. So, What went wrong?
Most telling aspect in these defeats was once again the lack of penetration in bowling. Sri Lankan spinners went at about 8 RPO while Fast bowlers had given away about 10 RPO in the tournament. Only the part-time off-spin of Dhanushka Gunathilake (7.75) and Amila Aponsu (6.33) who played a solitary match against Bangladesh went under 8 RPO. Most worryingly, sans Akila Dananjaya who reinvented himself after the first two games, no one was threatening enough to pick up wickets in the middle overs – which has been an issue for Sri Lanka for a while now.
With the 50 over world cup coming up next year, Sri Lanka is at a crucial junction to decide which bowlers they want to carry forward to that tournament. Whether they will keep backing the same personnel or will they go for new players? Even if they pick new bowlers, will those players have enough time to adjust to international cricket in such a short time? These are a couple of questions administration will have to discuss and take a decision before it is too late.
Batting has shown a significant improvement since Chandika Hathurusinghe took ruins as the head coach. However, the middle order wobbles which had been an issue for Sri Lanka in the recent past did make a couple of appearances in this tournament. In the last two games, when Sri Lanka was under pressure, this area was exposed against quality bowling.
In the second match against India, Sri Lanka fell from a comfortable 96/2 to 120/6. And, They were 42/5 at one stage in the virtual semi-final against Bangladesh. There is very little doubt that missing Angelo Mathews and Asela Gunaratne, two of the best T20 middle-order batsman, played a part. However, knowing how hard it could be for players to be fit at all the times with the hectic schedule these days, Sri Lanka should prepare plans for injury crises as well. Especially for these middle order roles because of three specific reasons.
Sri Lanka has a lot of openers among the current pool of players, however, lacks middle order batsman and finishers in white balls cricket. That is the first reason why we should specifically look into this area. The second reason is that we are traditionally not that strong in the middle order after 1996 WC winning squad. Last reason is that in the current context of cricket outcome of the white ball matches are decided on how the teams perform in the middle-overs.
Over-rate is another issue Sri Lanka should have a long and hard talk. Various captains on various occasions(now it is hard to keep count!) were banned for a couple of matches due to the same offence by Sri Lanka in the past two to three years. Dinesh Chandimal was the most recent victim to this. And, if they had not missed his batting during middle order wobbles or especially if they had not lost his cunning captaincy in the last two group games, Sri Lanka may have made it to final.
Fielding, although it has shown a visible improvement from the depths of last year, still has a long way to go before reaching the levels of top teams in international cricket. Keeping in the mind that fielding will play a huge role in the upcoming World cup, Sri Lanka should keep improving in that aspect.
Batting, bowling and fielding would improve with hard work and experience, especially if you look at the talent in this side.
However, Sri Lanka has to find a solution for continues injuries – quickly – if SLC wants to build a competitive team going forward. With the frequency of injuries, it was impossible for the management to stick with a stable squad in the last couple of years. Hence, rectifying this issue would take Sri Lanka a couple of steps closer to a world cup triumph.
Sri Lanka’s next assignment will be a tour to the Carribean for three test matches at the end of May. And, this is their first tour to West Indies in a decade leaving Rangana Herath as the only member from that squad. Looking at Sri Lanka test form in recent months, they should be determined not to come home without carrying the trophy. A win in this tour will put them in a strong position to face highly ranked South Africa and England on the home soil later this year. And, if Sri Lanka could win a couple of these series, it will give them the much-wanted confidence going into all important 2019.
