Lankans must shed the negative mentality

Second Test against India begins today:

Elmo RODRIGOPULLE

The Sri Lankans will do well to shed their negative mentality when they meet India in the Second of Three Test matches beginning at Kanpur today.

Had the Lankans been more positive and remembered that attack is the best form of defence,they could have turned the game in their favour and probably registered that first ever elusive victory against India in India.

But after making a massive 760 for seven in reply to India’s 426, the Lankans went on the defensive and instead of posting attacking fields went on the defensive and thereby let slip any chance the had of chalking up a victory. The posting of defensive fields was inexplicable considering that India in taking second strike and having 351 to score to make Sri Lanka bat again would have been apprehensive and would have not played the attacking cricket that are famous for, but would concentrated on saving the game.

It was a sad sight to see deep set fields that allowed the Indians to push the singles and rotate the strike and when the left hand right hand combination of Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag and Gambhir and Rahul Dravid were batting it would have been upsetting to the bowlers because every time they took a single, the bowler would have been forced to alter his line and length.

When against the ropes, no batsman would like to see fielders crowding him. Skipper Kumar Sangakkara would have been well advised to post a slip and gully, silly mid off and silly mid on with possibly a leg slip when the spinners were on which would have had the batsmen like cats on a hot tin roof.

We wonder what coaches Trevor Bayliss and new man Stuart Law were doing.

They should have stepped in and told Sangakkara to change his line of thinking and go more on the attack.

There is no point in making excuses and blaming things on the wicket. Any positive thinking captain or intelligent and clever bowler would have known how to lure a batsman out and not wait for the batsman to make a mistake.

The four Indian batsmen who were out in the second innings did not fall to good bowling.

Sehwag and Gambhir were out to utterly irresponsible shots. They should have been given six of the best on their back sides. Dravid went LBW and Misra went to a great catch. Only the knave would want to lay blame on the wicket for this draw. The home team has the prerogative to prepare wickets, and this they did considering the bowling power of the opponents.

We can’t also understand the Lankans wanting to play rugby or football before a big game.

These games are contact sport and the players are open to injury. Dilshan suffered an ankle sprain, but thankfully recovered to take his place and churn out a fine century.

He suffered a nose injury and at the time of writing, news has it that he would play in the Second Test. Now comes the news that Dhammika Prasad who performed well in the Ahmedabad Test having to miss the Second Test with a hamstring injury.

We would like to see Dilhara Fernando being given a go. His express pace could worry the Indian batsmen.

In the closing stages of the First Test and when the mandatory overs began, it was nauseating to watch Prasad, Matthews and Herath bowling wide down the off and leg where batsmen could not reach the ball. Obviously they would have been under instructions and it was unbecoming considering that the Sri Lankans were known to play the game in the spirit with winning or losing not the thing but how they played the game because for them the game was the thing.

They were doing this to deprive Sachin Tendulkar of his century.

It was also poor thinking by skipper Sangakkara to ask Tendulkar whether they would call off the game.

Tendulkar snubbed that request by saying that he was interested in scoring his century. And once he achieved it, Tendulkar agreed to call it off.

It is this kind of poor sportsmanship that could go to deprive us of the “Spirit of cricket’ award again when the next ICC awards ceremony comes around. Under Mahela Jayawardena we won that coveted award two years running.

The Lankans took honours in the drawn First Test. We hope they will continue that way and finally chalk up that elusive victory.

Once again Dilshan, the Jayawardenas, Kumar Sangakkara although he failed and Angelo Matthews would make big runs and that spinners Muralitheran and Herath and Ajantha Mendis if he plays, for the injured Prasad would bundle out the Indians.