
The Sri Lankan cricketers and the team has ‘got beat’ very badly. At times deservedly. But most of the time we need to be mindful of the ‘glorious uncertainties’ that sports journalist Neville Cardus so wisely wrote about.
Often times in the run up to a major tournament such ‘beat up’ treatment is a good thing as cricket is not for the sissies but for those who can face the trials of pace and spin, swing and spin with an upstanding spine. And so as we criticize the leadership of a Malinga and forget about what a world famous hero he was, we need to pause and give him a ‘break’!
Captaincy is a complex task. The writer knows that. I have scars on my back and on my emotions having been one who lead a school team and then a leading club team in the good ole days; and having seen both good and struggling captains, locally and internationally, dealing with the ups and down.
And so, while Sri Lanka pushed aside Pakistan the World T/20 Champions but unfortunately had a disastrous tour against India in the T/20s our team squad must put the Indian debacle out of their minds and get their focus right, if they are to recover and show our real mettle that is worthy of the World T/20 crown, come October.
When a team wins, the captain is forgotten and the whole team gets the accolades. But when a team gets beaten it is the captain who is on the chopping block with critics who have no cricketing background or experience as a captain, baying for his blood and lynching the losing captain.
Being a captain is no walk in the park. He has to always concentrate, see to every minute detail when on the field, know when and what bowler to bring on, what field to set, to advice the bowler, not to lose his temper when a fielder makes a mistake and above all he must have the feedback from the wicket keeper on how the wicket is playing and much more.
With Sri Lanka losing to India the cynosure of all eyes was Captain Lasith Malinga. The belief is that that a captain is good as his team. As opponents we were no match to the Indians who are awesome under champion batsman Virat Kholi and well drilled in all aspects by Ravi Shastri the former India captain who is the Head Coach.
Man to man they were far ahead of the Lankans in every drill in the game. Their players know exactly what and when to do in all situations and what is expected from them. They have been taught the all important basics from a very early age and what the coach has to do is talk situations to them.
As for the Lankans head coach, fielding coach, batting coach and bowling coach have to show some of our cricketers how to go. Some of them are ignorant of the basics. At this level the manner in which some of them are playing are a sad indictment on their early coaches. First to the toss. If a team wins the toss it would be good to take first strike unless of course the wicket is not good to bat first or there is a possibility of the dew factor playing up later in the game. When batting first it is essential to put up an imposing score and put the pressure on the side batting second.
Because the side chasing will have to maintain a certain run rate in their push for victory. If a few dot balls are bowled or early wickets taken the pressure could be enormous and risks will have to be taken in which case the batsmen are bound to falter.
With the all important T/20 World Cup in bush fire ravaged Australia the main target and first to start with batting the Lankans need to find an intelligent dashing opening pair like Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharne who gave the team a brilliant opening for other batsmen to build on when Sri Lanka won the 50-over World Cup in 1995/96.
Looking around and two teams who have openers who can tear any opening bowling attack and score the maximum runs in the power play overs – 6 in the T/20 and 10 in the 50-over - are Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma of India and Aaron Finch and David Warner of Australia. They are left hand/right hand combination.
Sri Lanka has a ready-made opener in the class of the above mentioned in left hander Kusal Janith Perera who is another Jayasuriya. He must be found another quick scoring right hand opener. There are few around and coach Mickey Arthur must pick the right one. The batsmen following must be able to build on the good opening and if there is an early hiccup to right it and go for a formidable score to give the bowlers a chance to attack the opposing batsmen.
As chief selector Ashantha de Mel has said dot balls should have no place in the score book. Every ball should be scored off. For this batsmen must have the power to hit the ball hard to beat the fielder or go over the top.
Also the batting should preferably run deep up to number 11. This is where all-rounders are very important in this style of cricket. Batsmen numbers 9, 10 and 11 must also be able to strike the ball hard for runs. Run outs and poor strokes must be anathema to the batsmen.
It is paramount to have power hitters in the limited over style of cricket. Most teams have laid a lot of emphasis on this aspect, because making runs off every ball is the bottom line. Pat ball cricket is of no use.
All batsmen in the team must know what is expected of him. Coaches cannot be telling them every time what to do and how they should go. The batsmen should study the field set by the opponents and attempt to hit the ball to vacant places or over it for runs.
Brings to mind what cheer squads shout at school matches when batsmen don’t score. ‘Annang mannang vanna, runs thammi onah’.
Next bowling and fielding.