Lankan cricket deteriorating

The standard of Sri Lanka cricket has been deteriorating, despite a few isolated wins against some lesser known teams in the recent past. Playing against the minnows in world cricket - Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, in back to back series too deprived our cricketers from sharpening their skills.

Irrespective of the outcome of the games, it is always advantageous to play top teams. That would provide us good competition and would help expose weak links in the side and help us to put things right. That would help us to rectify our mistakes and prepare for the next World Cup.

But when Sri Lanka constantly plays weak teams, it does no good. That is exactly what has happened to Sri Lanka team. Sri Lanka played five one-day internationals in Zimbabwe. Though Mahela Jayawardene and his boys made a 5-0 whitewash, it was Zimbabwe who exposed all the weak links.

Testing time

Especially in the last three games of that five-match ODI series, Zimbabwe gave Sri Lanka a testing time. It was the inexperience of the Zimbabwe team that prevented them from winning at least a couple of games. Sri Lanka’s batting was nowhere near their usual standards. Sri Lanka could not put up a decent total in any of the five one day internationals in Harare.

Then in the two-Test series against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka had to face a tough task in Dhaka. Hosts Bangladesh earned everything except victory. It was a creditable performance by Bangladesh who scored over 400 runs in the second innings when chasing a 500 plus victory target. Sri Lankan bowlers were hit to all corners of the ground as the Bangladesh batsmen gave us a lesson on fighting qualities.

Sri Lanka suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Bangladesh in the one day triangular series league game. It was only Bangladesh’s second win over Sri Lanka in 25 ODI meetings. Though Sri Lanka managed to pull off a dramatic two-wicket win over Bangladesh, it was the hosts who exposed our cricket standards.

Unbelievable

If not for the unbelievable effort by bowler turned batsman Muttiah Muralitharan, Bangladesh would have definitely won their maiden ODI tournament title. Sending five of the top Sri Lankan batsmen to the pavilion with only six runs on the board clearly showed the commitment of the Bangladesh bowlers. Unlike Sri Lanka, the hosts did not have any big names in their bowling armoury. Yet, their bowlers were well disciplined and determined to make sure that the Sri Lankan batsmen grovel.

The ODI tournament victory in Bangladesh is nothing big to crow about. The tournament only highlighted our stand in world cricket. With our performance against wooden spoonists such as Bangladesh and Zimbabwe being poor one could imagine what would be our plight when we confront teams such as Australia and South Africa.

It was under these circumstances that the Sri Lanka team went to Pakistan for an ODI series. From the first game itself, Pakistan has proved where Sri Lanka stands in the world circuit. Pakistan thrashed Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the opening game.

Though Sri Lanka were strongly placed after electing to bat in Tuesday’s game, they lost their grip after the first 25 overs. At the time of writing, Sri Lanka is playing Pakistan in the second game and the visitors must win both the remaining games if they are to win the series and regain lost prestige.

Low ebb

Sri Lanka’s batting has been at a low ebb in recent times and that has greatly contributed to the team’s unimpressive results in the last few months. It was Vice Captain Kumar Sangakkara who has been consistent.

Tillakaratne Dilshan has shown vast improvement but the same cannot be said about Upul Tharanga and Chamara Kapugedara, who have failed to make use of the numerous opportunities they have been getting over the past couple of years. Though Kapugedara, returned to Test cricket after being in the wilderness for two years, he did well in the second Test, his record in one day internationals has been disappointing.

It was the sensational performance of Ajantha Mendis, together with evergreen Muttiah Muralitharan, who have enabled Sri Lanka to win matches. Their deadly bowling efforts have often compensated for our poor batting and turned certain defeats into memorable wins.

Crucial matches

But we can’t depend entirely on them to win crucial matches, especially the games against the top teams in world circuit. True that it’s the bowlers who win matches most of the time. But even for the bowlers to defend, there should be a decent total. Unless the batsmen score, it will always be a tough task for the bowlers to defend low totals.

Sri Lanka team is studded with top batsmen but they have failed to maintain consistency. In recent times, most of the Sri Lanka batsmen have been off colour. They have even failed to score freely against relatively weak bowling attacks such as Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

Under the circumstance the series in Pakistan and the one to follow against India would give us food for thought. The Pakistanis and the Indians would show us where our cricket stands. If we can overpower this challenge, then the Sri Lanka team could be satisfied with their achievement. If not the Sri Lanka team will have to start from the bottom again.