Ganeesha David

A deflated population was seen meandering along with their daily life straight after the tremendous led-down in the World Cup last Saturday evening in Mumbai. Like that was not enough of a blow, the most capable hands that hold Sri Lanka cricket Kumar Sangakkara, MahelaJayawardena and Aravinda De Silva captain, vice captain and chief selector tender their resignations, opening out a whole can of worms.

While the country is agog with stories, some honest soul searching and reasoning is required.

Firstly, in the group stages Sri Lanka did not beat any big teams, drawing with Australia, being beaten by Pakistan and beating New Zealand after batting first was not anything to draw too much confidence in their ability.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  But having bashed the minnows severely, Sri Lanka recorded the highest net run rate in both groups, giving some of the lesser knowing home-audiences ballooning hope.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Media and commercialism joined the bandwagon and suddenly Sri Lanka had a world conquering side.

The subcontinent had huge advantage for Sri Lanka especially with world class spinners, but Pakistan and India had more potent bowling attacks and batting orders respectively and are less susceptible to spin.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  In short the island was simply lucky not to have had to play India or Pakistan in a knock-out stage or semi-final.

England and New Zealand were simply conquered by spin, which left the CaucasianƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s wrist-less batsmen flummoxed. Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s successful run chase against England in the quartersƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  with T M Dilshan and Upul Tharanga both reaching centuries was the biggest cause for the confidence boost by the Sri Lankans.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Depicting perfectly, the phraseƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ fortune favours the braveƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, their aggressive intent paid rich dividends in the end.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  In contrast they made heavy work in the semi-final with a dogged pursuit, careful not to throw away the advantage of having a weaker New Zealand as an opponent.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Of course the Kiwis who were lighting fast in close up fielding with big burly Jessi Ryder showing the way with a stupendously flexible mid-air catch, and were harder to score off than the Englishman. These two victories pop-eyed Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s expectations!

In the final the toss played a part to make it worthy of a World Cup,otherwiseƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  chasing Sri Lanka may have folded cheaply, but again there was the dew factor! If dew was the reason the bowling lost its sting, it can be argued that Sri Lanka lost a second World Cup to conditions (last time they played in the dark)

While there was outrage when Ajantha Mendis was selected to the final World cup squad, today there is outrage as to why he was not selected for the final. Mendis was selected as most teams had still not fathomed him and he could easily bamboozle the tail of any side. The theory worked like a charm!

While so much controversy hedges on the fact that Suraj Randiv was flown in for the final, there is a school of thinking that he was replacing Mendis who has been clearly mastered by the Indians and has gone for plenty and Randiv is a better batsman and fielder and he was expected to do better on the bouncing track .In the last 10 outings vs India, Mendis has had 533 runs scored off 94 overs taking just 9 wickets while RandivƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  has had 409 runs scored off 90 overs and taken 8 wickets.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The thinking could have been that while Randiv had done better against the Indians, heƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  also added impetus with his fielding and conjugated with Tisara Perera to form the batting void that Mathews left.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  It must be remembered that no single batsmen or for that matter two, can replace the ingenuity of Angelo Mathews. But on the other hand Mendis had bowled well during the tournament and it was upto the very cricket savvy think tank to make that weighty decision.

By the end of the World Cup India was a different team. They had beaten Australia and Pakistan fair and square and were not in the mood to be bullied or faltered by Sri Lanka.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The only weak point which was the Indian bowling tightened the screws on the free-flowing Sri Lankan batsman at the final. With Yuvraj Singh, ViratKohli and Suresh Raina forming an impetus around the bat, they stifled Sangakkara and Dilshan(31 in 10 overs)after the demise of Upul Tharanga. As it has been repeatedly verbalized, the middle order mediocrity, make the likes of Kumar Sangakkara, MahelaJayawardena and T M Dilshannever reach potency.

Jayawardena clearly making up for all the misses in the previous matches made the World Cup supreme. As a very colourful commentator would say ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”it was the cherry on top of the cakeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ . ; sweet timing, delicate touch and calculated aggression; head and shoulders above everyone else.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  A masterful innings, perhaps the best in a World Cup!ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The Aravinda de Silva 107 in 124 balls in the 1996 finalwas rated top drawer and under pressure; the Jayawardena one was an exquisite 103 in 88 balls. As De SilvaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢sƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  century was with proven batsmen to come at 5,6,7, clearly theJayawardena innings eclipsed it.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  While Aravinda hadan arrogance to his,Mahela gently flowed into his. The Jayawardena innings was something for the mantle-piece if that ever could be packaged.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  You needed to preserve it to look at it again and again.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  De SilvaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s will be talked about because it ended in victory, but the Jayawardena innings will just be engraved in some hearts.

275 at a World Cup final would have been a good score by any side.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The advent of Tisara Perera and NuwanKulasekara accents once again the need to be free-flowing vs cautious, but in the end they leaked as many runs as they scored.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

There was one word that was needed against the masterful Indian batting line up – ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”penetrationƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  As Kumara Sangakkara so correctly said and even got chastised for saying it,even 350 is not a safe score against that batting line up and in a world cup they would have played their best. India having chased two totals successfully gave them an edge to their confidence and the calmness of certainty.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  It was that very certainty that Sri Lanka lacked; their batting depth without MathewsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  stopped at Jayawardena.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Safe Mr Samaraweera is a cool head in such a situation, but not giving him long term exposure at the position did not do him justice. He should have played at that position in Australia on the tour preceding the world cup.

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Having beaten Sri Lanka many times previously, IndiaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  had no trepidation of the opponents bowling. Except for Malinga which to India and Pakistan is the only saturation Sri Lanka has, the rest had no effect. You cannot help but get the feeling that Dilhara Fernando was the biggest trick Sri Lanka missed.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In hindsight a million things can be said.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The question why Kumar Sangakkara did not attack after the two wickets of Sehwag and Tendulkar is one unanswered question. De Silva has mentioned in the post World Cup media conference that Sangakkara was defensive. GautumGambir who steps out to the spinners and steps out to the fastmen, played a steadying innings rotating beautifully. The fact that India has 7 potent batsmen, seems to have missed the Sri Lankan fans who are looking for someone to blame. A dropped catch and run out may have put pressure on India but with one of the best batting line ups in the world in a long time, you get the feeling another hero would have come along.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Even through the equation of run a ball, if you have 150 to get at run a ball and you have 7 batsmen in the dressing room, the writing is on the wall.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  If the score was bigger India would have upped their scoring rate further but at least another 25 runs was needed to make India break a sweat.

Also it was 1.2 billion peoples hopes, aspirations and deities vs the 20 millionƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s; home soil, home crowd and that batting line up!!!

There is so much talk about the last minute selection changes and the addition of Kapugedara.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Chamara Silva had clearly lost his nerve and Sri Lanka couldnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t risk using him again.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The usually nimble SilvaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s feet were rooted to the ground a clear sign of lack of confidence. Silva who came in for huge criticism before a single ball in the world cup was bowled, fell way below his regular standards and seemed mentally disintegrated.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The thinking would have been there was nothing lost in bringing someone new.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

The non- preparation of Dinesh Chandimal and Samaraweera in Australia, the inclusion of the two ChamaraƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s, not planning for the eventuality of facing India or Pakistan by giving Dilhara Fernando a run just to see how much bounce he could get off these wickets and not giving the middle order a run during some of the easy matches are a few blunders by Sri Lanka.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ All in all, there was absolutely no need for anyone to retire and send Sri Lanka Cricket into a whirlpool of disaster; unless there is something more dire than a difference of opinion between the selectors and the team hierarchy.

There would no doubt have had divided thought processes in the dressing room as it is among the cricketeting public, but in general the changes made sense and Sri Lanka fought gallantly, accepted defeat graciously and applauded the opponents magnanimously.

Just like in 2007, where they lost a cup but gained the admiration of the world, this time not just the cricketers, but the country showed the world how to accept defeat.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The skipperƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s eloquent speech in his final interview set the tone for this and brought high praise from the Indians. The losing captain stated that the Indians were the clear champions and a photograph of him smiling in his neigbhourƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s victorious moment, has made him more famous and his countrymen worshipping.

It can be rightfully said that SangaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s popularity rose after losing the world cup; where the lesson ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”how you played the gameƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ is taught to people.