Mahela Jayawardena Has A Lot Of Shaping Up To Do!

© Top Spin by Sunny For LankaWeb Cricket

March29th 2007

With all due respect to Mahela Jayawardena Sri Lanka's Cricket captain, one can only be inclined to agree somewhat with Mr.M D P Dissanayake in certain aspects of his criticism of Mahela. Indeed Mahela is neither performing up to expectations as a complete skipper nor maintaining his image as a world class batsman and whatever the reason, he needs to correct the problem lightning fast or else he is bound to run into further problems for himself at a perilous time in the World Cup Competition given all the turbulences and unrest among world audiences over various issues. He is a fine individual who has all the skills as a world class cricketer but given the fact that the Sri Lankan cricket team is currently involved in the World Cup competition with a skipper who appears to be performing below par it does not augur well for Sri Lanka's chances in the overall competition.It also affects the psyche of the huge and adoring Sri Lankan fans who love their team and skipper and have great expectations of them especially in the current World Cup Competition!

The Sri Lankan team has already been acknowledged as a team capable of winning the World Cup and yesterday's astonishing game against South Africa together with Lasith Malinga's incredible world record breaking bowling performance and Murali's brilliance certainly attests to this also.It was a moral victory for Sri Lanka although the game might easily have swung in Sri Lanka's favour had the top order batsmen performed even marginally better and there been a few more runs on the board as it all came down to that in the final overs.

There is however the nagging concern that Sri Lanka's top order senior batsmen have in recent times particularly in the World Cup Competition more often than not failed to deliver and that task has been carried equitably by the younger players and yesterday's game was no exception.It is probably fast becoming a dilemma for the Sri Lankan Cricket Board also where it has in all probabilities watched in dismay the turnaround of latest events.It is agreed that when the first wicket falls, the next batsman must be the most accomplished, aggressive and in-form player and a truism perhaps that Kumar Sanggakkara or Tillekeratne Dilshan could better fill the slot than Mahela Jayawardena who in all probabilities needs to bat lower down.But one has to totally disagree with Mr Dissanayake saying that "at a time when Sanath is firing at a run a ball. As a result of Mahela's low scoring rate, naturally Sanath tried to accelerate the run rate and became another victim."

Sanath Jayasuriya probably one of Sri lankas best loved cricketers, an explosive and dangerous bat as Tony Greig often calls him and a superb left arm unorthodox spinner cannot be cited as a victim of Mahela Jayawardene's inadequacues as Sanath being the explosive bat that he is, often takes a Babe Ruth approach in his treatment of the ball and loves to drive vertically in quest of his "Home Runs" at times being caught in the deep especially when the distance from the wicket exceeds 75 metres where Mahela Jayawardene's only involvement with Sanath's demise is that he probably did not warn Sanath about this and the merits of driving along the grass which he himself is a master of! said tongue in cheek of course!

Then comes the issue of former skipper Marvan Atapattu part of this current World Cup squad who is a very reliable batsman, a fine fielder and currently showing good form with the bat and indeed it is a noteworthy point that his inclusion in the team for the games to follow could be vital to the results of the ensuing games although the question arises as to who would be excluded in his place? It is a nagging one which some analysts believe could be answered with the killing of two birds with one stone namely restoring the captaincy to Marvan Atapattu thereby automatically asserting his place in the team and finding a resolution towards where to fit in Mahela Jayawardena, where resting him could also be an option although probably not the best one.

This seems concurrent with Mr Dissanayake's final euphemisms where he suggests that " At the same time, we have not given an opportunity to the former skipper, experienced Marvan Atapattu, he has been side-lined right from the beginning. This is most unfair for a senior player to be treated in this manner, where as senior poor performers keep their places.The management team should address these issues before it is too late, even if we have to give a rest to Mahela is not a bad idea! " it seems logical to include Marvan Atapattu for the rest of the games but a difficult proposition to sack the current skipper but something as he suggests which is for the Selectors of the Sri Lankan Cricket Board to resolve.This is a somewhat harsh decision to make with a few severe implications on team morale as well as the protocols involved but given what is at stake it may turn out to be Hobson's Choice unless Mahela asserts himself as a worthy skipper and proves to the hierarchy through future performances that his job should not be on the line.

On a positive side Mahela does have some attributes, he is charismatic, a popular personality on the field, he makes wise bowling change decisions, sets a prudent and appropriate field as the occassion demands and is a brilliant fielder himself but somehow does not cut the figure of a motivating skipper, more inclined to take collective decisions in consultation with all and sundry under pressure instead of being a stong individualist who takes a positive approach on his own experience and cricketing savvy and here the comparison to Captain Cool invariably crops up where he does not cut the image somewhat unfortunately and perhaps a motivation towards improvement!

All things said, Mahela Jayawardene has a lot of shaping up to do in a very short space of time for Sri Lanka to have any chances of lifting the cup !