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Glorious Uncertainties or Inglorious Predictabilities Of Sri Lankan Cricket!Cost Them The Sharjah Cup.

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In one of the most humiliating defeats Sri Lanka has ever suffered in recent ODI history they came crashing ignominiously to earth losing to Pakistan by 217 runs in the Sharjah Cup befor a jubilant pro Pakistani crowd which did not add comfort to their woes of a rather disastrous day at Sharjah despite their having coasted to an impressive final and expected by many to beat Pakistan.

An ominous precursor to the disaster which followed was an incredibly freak accident involving Sri Lankas's Mega Star Muttiah Muralitharan who dislocated his left shoulder, while diving to stop a ball and rushed to hospital and the inevitable eventuality which saw the Pakistanis making merry with a 'Murathilanless' attack to the tune of 295 for 6 and repond with the fire of Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akthar which proved too much for the impetuous Sri Lankans who showed a degree of irresponsibility for a side which had humbled the Pakistanis previously in an almost taken for granted manner in conceding defeat and being shot out for a paltry 76 runs.

The souls searching now begins in earnest with post-mortems of the entire performances of the Sri Lankans and their vulnerabilities which become more apparent throught their dependence on Muralitharan and a clear incentive to return to the drawing boards to plan for the forthcoming England Tour and preparation for the World Cup which probably has a few dilemmas for Coach Dav Whatmore and Skipper Jayasuriya.

To take nothing away from the flashy Pakistanis and their star studded line up which undoubtedly were favourites to win the Cup, their was a flawless performance beating New Zealand twice and maintaining their cool in the face of a possible onslaught from the Sri Lankans which eventually fizzled out into a damp squib albeit the predictions of many optimistics for an upset which in reality would have been no upset had the Sri Lankans played to a game plan and been a bit more astute in their approach having lost a toss which they would probably have dearly loved to have won.

But this was indeed Pakistan's day as they hoisted the Sharjah Cup high before a jubilant crowd while Sri Lanka returns home with the 'silver', yet undaunted and more determined than ever to re-commence that evasive climb to the pinnacle of International Cricket which they should have no compunctions about acheiving as theirs too is a star studded side of swashbuckling , exciting young players with all the firepower to win big provided they check an all too familiar tendency to be overly flashy and irresponsible at a time when gearing down and digging in should be the order of the day, but then again the glorious uncertainties of cricket have prevailed in exposing the inglorious predictabilities of Sri Lankan Cricket and in this case their dependancy on Muralitharan and their tentative approach to the fiery pace of Akram and Akthar which almost appears to be an Achilles Heel which the Pakistanis exploited combined with a few handouts through apparent bad umpiring calls in a day an age when the benefits of the doubt rests on snail paced reflexes and blurred vision of senile umpires and hardly in favour of the batsman and apathetic as they tend to change the composure of the game without a doubt.

Sadly, this was Muralitharan's 30th Birthday and a day which should have seen himself basking in glory together with his team mates but it was not to be through unfortunate circumstances but it would be quite appropriate to wish our dear Muttiah Muralitharan a very happy and wonderful birthday , a speedy recovery and many more birthdays to come, together with those tumbling wickets to add to his tally.

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