Three ‘M’s to put rivals off balance
The three ‘M’s of Sri Lanka’s bowling attack unorthodox paceman
Lasith Malinga, veteran off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and mystery
spinner Ajantha Mendis can turn any match on its head.
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Malinga |
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Muralitharan |
Malinga’s knack of churning out yorkers at will, coupled with wily
Muralitharan’s ability to keep a tight lid on the scoring rates, might
tip the scales in Sri Lanka’s favour at key times during the Feb.
19-April 2 World Cup.
Add to that the mysterious “carrom ball” from Mendis and Sri Lanka
have a bowling attack that can make life miserable for any batting
line-up.
“In our bowling attack, we have so much variety. It’s important to
keep other teams off balance when they are batting and we can achieve
that with our attack,” Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara told Reuters.
“Having Lasith and Murali in the side is a huge privilege and it
takes a lot of pressure off the other bowlers.”
Sri Lanka, the 1996 champions and finalists in 2007, play all but one
of their Group A matches on home ground.
The selectors, led by former cricketer Aravinda de Silva, had some
hard choices to make and found no place in the squad for De Silva’s team
mates from the 1996 side, Sanath Jayasuriya and Chaminda Vaas.
“Unfortunately we had to make some very tough decisions concerning
some of the newer players like (Suraj) Randiv and some of the older
players like Vaasy and Sanath,” Sangakkara said.
“Those were extremely difficult decisions but had to be made to have
the right combinations for the World Cup.”
Jayasuriya’s place at the top of the order has gone to another
left-hander, Upul Tharanga who, with the explosive Tillakaratne Dilshan,
forms an attacking opening pair for the island nation. Dilshan, the
author of the famous scoop shot over the head of the wicketkeeper, has
often thrown away his wicket trying to hit almost every delivery for a
boundary.
“We had a strong middle order in 1996 but this team has better
bowlers and both Muralitharan and Malinga are match-winners.”
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Mendis |
The onus of scoring quick runs during the slog overs will invariably
fall on supremely talented all-rounder Angelo Mathews.
Mathews, who bowls medium pace and averages more than 35 with the bat
at a strike rate of almost 83.07, is deemed to provide the necessary
balance in the team.
Sangakkara knows the importance of runs from his top order.
“We have to make sure the batsmen understand that even though you
have 20 overs of power play, the key to putting up considerable totals
is to bat as long as possible,” he said.
“Our bowling unit has been doing extremely well over the past two to
three years.
“Now the batsmen have to make sure they back them up as much as
possible with runs batting first or second.”
On a personal front, the Sri Lanka captain will have a lot on his
plate.
“My role is to try and make the best decisions I can on the field and
score as many runs as possible and make sure my wicketkeeping is as tidy
as it can be,” Sangakkara said. Reuters
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