No one can fault the Sri Lankan cricketers if they fail to bring home the ICC Champions Trophy which takes place in England from June 1-18. Neither can any blame be placed on Sri Lanka Cricket that has provided the players with the maximum support including training and practice facilities and some of the best past cricketers and coaches in the world that form their support staff to prepare them for this big event. The team left last Thursday with the blessings of everyone carrying the hopes of the 25 million people in the country to win back an ICC trophy which they had last won when they emerged champions of the ICC World T20 in 2014. However Sri Lanka in the past has shown that they can always go against the odds. No one predicted that they would win the 1996 Cricket World Cup and neither did anyone believe the 2014 side would win the World T20. So in this wonderful game of cricket the glorious uncertainties can happen.
There is a limit to what a support staff can give to a team - the rest is left to the players to execute the carefully laid down plans out in the middle when they confront their opponents. Things can either go according to plan or against them that’s why all teams go into a contest with Plan A, B or C so that if one fails they can always have a back up.
The 15 players who left for England is the best that was available for Sri Lanka for a one-day contest according to the national selectors who spent a lot of time before finalizing it. The squad is an abundance of talent but what they lack is the experience which other teams in the competition have.
For example take Bangladesh, the country Sri Lanka last played before the Champions Trophy. The majority of the players in their one-day team have been playing together for a number of years and it is that experience which has made them a force to be reckoned with in ODI cricket.
Although the gross total of Sri Lanka’s 15-member squad outweighs Bangladesh in the number of ODI appearances – 1329 to 1133, a majority of Sri Lanka’s players have not played together for a longer period of time. For example take the case of Lasith Malinga he is returning to the ODI side after a near two-year lapse, vice captain Upul Tharanga has also been in and out of the team on several occasions, Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal have missed out on several instances through injury. This way there has been no consistency in the team where the players have been together.
Following the retirements of Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan suitable players have not filled the vacant slots. Sri Lanka are still in the stage of experimenting with players and not given them permanent slots in the batting order.
Head coach Graham Ford when questioned about the team combination replied: “It’s a bit early. I think there’s a feeling within the selection committee that once we do decide on a batting lineup, we need to give them a decent run, and give them an opportunity to be themselves, rather than worrying about their place. We’ve got a bit of preparation and some practice matches to play before we settle on our final XI.”
According to Ford, skipper Mathews, cricket manager Asanka Gurusinha, fast bowling consultant coach Allan Donald and fielding coach Nic Pothas everything possible has been done from this end in Colombo and now it is upto the players to get themselves acclimatized to the conditions and pitches in England and start producing the results which everyone is anxiously waiting for.
Apart from an aging Lasith Malinga, the team lacks the mega stars that other teams in the competition have like AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli, David Warner, Glenn Maxwell, Jos Butler, Joe Root, MS Dhoni – all match winners and game turners.
However Sri Lanka can take heart from the comments made by Rohit Sharma after leading Mumbai Indians to their third IPL title: “Individuals can win games but team work can win titles.”
As for the loss against Scotland, Sri Lanka should not be affected by that result too seriously but take comfort from what England captain Alastair Cook had to say, “You’re not going to be remembered for what happened in the warm up games. You’re going to be remembered for what happens in the actual tournament.”
Lankan star shines in other fields
While Sri Lanka continues to bolster their national cricket team’s support staff with past overseas players, the cricketing legends the country has produced are helping other teams around the world become champions. Last Sunday in the IPL final against Rising Pune Supergiant at Hyderabad, Mumbai Indians pulled off a nerve-tingling one-run win to clinch the title, defending magnificently a moderate total of 129. Throughout the tournament Mumbai Indians who had former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene as their head coach have been the most consistent of teams and despite a few hiccups they certainly proved what team work can do. Jayawardene as we all know is one of the best captains produced by the country and he certainly passed that experience into guiding Mumbai (who also had the Lankan spearhead Lasith Malinga in their ranks) to their third title.
Mumbai Indians’ victory was summarized nicely by cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar who said: “Simply amazing. The first half wasn’t great for us. We got together during the break and Mahela gave a nice speech. We believed that we could pull this off. The fielding was great under pressure. I have always believed in the saying, once a champion always a champion. He (Malinga) has done well for us for a number of years. I was so sure that he was going to do something great tonight. He might not have had a great season, but he is one guy who can change it in one over.”
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