Lessons from T20 World Cup

Sri Lanka's humiliating defeat at the hands of Pakistan in the ICC Twenty20 World Cup final last Sunday has taught us many lessons. It was unfortunate that Sri Lanka could not offer any resistance to Pakistan's challenge and surrendered meekly.

Sri Lanka marched to the final as the hot favourites to win the World Twenty20 cricket 'crown'. They had plenty of reasons to be so as they were the only unbeaten team in the contest. On the other hand, Pakistan did not have a similar unblemished record to crow about. However at the end, it was Pakistan who demolished Sri Lanka's dream cricketing kingdom.

The main reason to Sri Lanka's pathetic performance was the poor form shown by their batsmen. Even on their way to the finals, Sri Lanka batsmen, especially the middle order, did not come out with any extraordinary performance. Instead, they heavily depended on Tillakaratne Dilshan and veteran Sanath Jayasuriya to see them through.

In almost all Sri Lanka's matches up to the final, either Dilshan or Jayasuriya came out with their power packed batting. There were several solid foundations laid by the duo while skipper Kumar Sangakkara and former captain Mahela Jayawardene batted well on a couple of occasions. In the semi final against the West Indies, it was Dilshan who piloted Sri Lanka to victory almost single handed.

As I have stated in this column last week, Sri Lanka's bowlers rose to the occasion and performed their task well, defending modest totals too often. Whatever the unimpressive totals set by their batsmen, their bowlers defended successfully. Apparently, this may have given wrong signals to their batsmen that they could turn even average totals to winnings targets. Perhaps, that may be the reason that their batsmen did not pay enough attention!

When all other Sri Lanka batsmen failed miserably, it was Dilshan's explosive ninety plus that enabled Sri Lanka to beat the West Indies in the second semi final. By then, Pakistan had already outplayed South Africa in the first semi final. It was the time the warning bells were rung at the Sri Lanka camp on their poor batting right throughout the World Cup tournament. Unfortunately, none of the Lankan batsmen, except for skipper Sangakkara, failed to get on top of the Pakistan bowling attack.

Sri Lanka's over dependence on Dilshan and Jayasuriya was well exposed in the final. When the dashing openers were out early in their innings in the final, Pakistan had half won their battle against Sri Lanka. Wickets tumbled at regular intervals as Sri Lanka slumped to 71 for 6 in the 13th over. By then, it appeared as Pakistan had already won though Sangakkara and young Angelo Mathews shared an unfinished half century partnership for the seventh wicket.

It is extremely hard for a team to make an extraordinary comeback in Twenty20 cricket. That was precisely why I compared the latest version of cricket to a sprint event in athletics. There is hardly any room to rectify errors and make a comeback if you make an early blunder.

In a sprint event, it is hard for an athlete to make a comeback after a slow start. But in middle or long distance running, which I would like to compare with one day internationals or Tests, there are enough and more opportunities for an athlete to recover and make a comeback. That is exactly what Sri Lanka experienced in the final.

In contrast, Pakistan's road to success is a classic example of determination and courage. They did not have too impressive performance in the early stages and even their place in the final round was in the balance. But the Pakistanis kept their cool and took match by match and made strategic advancement, winning their crucial matches in do or die situations.

Pakistan had to confront unbeaten South Africa in the first semi final. Despite going as underdogs both in the semi finals and the final, Pakistan proved their fighting qualities, putting an end to the proud unbeaten records of South Africa and Sri Lanka. The pressure was on Pakistan camp in the semis and the final but they kept their cool and played as a team. It was their collective team effort when finally enabled them to take the glittering World Cup.

Had Sri Lanka's middle order batsmen been even little more careful, we would have definitely won the World Cup. Unfortunately, Sri Lanka lost early wickets after electing to bat against Pakistan in the final and were never able to recover from that early shock, especially losing both Dilshan and Jayasuriya early.

Pakistan played intelligent cricket and the key to their overall success has been the team work. Both their batsmen as well as bowlers equally worked hard to gain this success. Despite losing some key games against tougher opponents, Pakistan kept their cool to go for their ultimate goal. They were never bothered about the so called big names and previous track record. They took match by match and concentrated on those particular engagements.

Winning the Twenty20 World Cup has opened a new chapter in Pakistan cricket. That was evident when the champion team returned home to a heroes welcome. This should be an eye opener for all and Pakistan team is set to maintain their form as the newly crowed kings of the shortest version of world cricket.

Despite losing the final, the overall performance of Sri Lanka team was creditable. All what they lacked was that final punch needed to win the big 'un. Nevertheless, the new look Sri Lanka team proved that they are rich with young talent and that they have better things to offer for world cricket in the near future.