Sri Lankans entertainers

Display it’s good cricket:

Hafiz Marikar

Sri Lanka has reached the final of the Cricket World Cup beating some of the best teams in the top rankers like England, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Canada in the preliminary rounds, with a tie against Australia, loosing only to Pakistan, and will meet the 1983 champions India today in Mumbai, Sri Lanka’s achievement comes from their great entertaining style of play and commitment with a will to win. Several players could not have survived the scrutiny of an orthodox-minded coaches. They grew up in a Island with a fixed cricketing history and ideas about how to bowl and bat.

Sri Lanka’s attack tells the story. It consists of one chap with a haystack on his head and apparently intent on reviving round arm, another guy with an innocent expression and an ability to flick the ball like a counter on a board, and an ancient tweaker with a freakish action.

Could they have survived in a less imaginative location? Sri Lanka’s skipper Kumar Sangakkara and former skipper Mahela Jayawardene have done their best, to guide the side to the final, which will create history, for the first time two Asian teams are clashing in the final.

Happy to say, Lasith Malinga has been the third best speedster in the tournament, behind Umar Gul and possibly Zaheer Khan. But sport has a beautiful democracy about it, concentrates on performance not presentation. Malinga hurls himself around in the field, practises his yorkers endlessly and is wholehearted and brave enough to seek wickets not containment. He is an excellent bowler whose has a sling action that releases the ball from over middle stump and has a bumper and slower ball to his repertoire. Above all, he is the best powerplay bowler in the tournament.

Murali, if he plays will be his last game of cricket, took a crucial wicket with his last ball in front of his home crowd, ending Scott Styris’ fine innings with a ripper and thereby ruining the Kiwis’ plans of throwing the bat at the last 18 deliveries.

Much has been said about his bowling, less about his aggression. The sight of him cursing and waving his arms at an errant fieldsman was delightful.

If Sri Lanka’s batting is not quite as hectic, the list include Tillakaratne Dilshan, an audacious and inventive opener. Dilshan’s past is not that of the typical librarian but in this tournament has batted with inspiration and responsibility, daring to play his shots and yet not taking foolish risks. He gives the innings its early injection and then settles till it is safely on the right tract. Besides, he fields like a demon and bowls handy off-breaks.

It all adds to the fun of a fine event. Perhaps, though it is also instructive. Sports cannot be confined to the book only, Sportsmen, too, tend to be adventurous types. Anyhow it’s not the start that counts, it’s the finish that counts and Sri Lanka are good competitors.

Sachin vs Murali - a farewell battle to cherish - Legends Sachin Tendulkar and Muttiah Muralitharan face-off in a mouth-watering duel for the last time when India and Sri Lanka clash in the World Cup final.

The contest between the world’s leading batsman and highest wicket-taker in their final appearance in cricket’s showpiece event will add spice to the big game. Muralitharan, who reaches 38 next month, will leave international cricket after this final with (800) test wickets and 534 one-day wickets to date than any bowler in the history of cricket in the world.

Tendulkar’s batting skills have not diminished even as he celebrates his 38th birthday next month, but he is unlikely to make a record seventh World Cup appearance in 2015. A World Cup title has eluded the Indian star despite being the sport’s most successful batsman with a record 32,785 runs and 99 centuries in Test and one-day cricket.

Muralitharan tasted World Cup glory in his maiden appearance in 1996 when Arjuna Ranatunga’s men stunned Australia in the final in Pakistan. The superstars have led from the front in this tournament to carry their teams into the final. Tendulkar’s 464 runs in eight matches is just three behind Sri Lankan Tillakaratne Dilshan’s record tally of 467, while Muralitharan has claimed 15 wickets despite battling his injuries. Murali has soldiered on bravely over the past six weeks despite being afflicted with a hamstring and groin injuries, a side strain and a troublesome knee.

An appreciative Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara said winning the World Cup for Muralitharan has motivated his team. Murali is a legend to bowl virtually on one leg and still get wickets, Kumar said, Murali is the only bowler from either side to enjoy a World Cup triumph. Tendulkar was 10 years old when India won the tournament under Kapil Dev in 1983, while five of his current team-mates Ravichandran Ashwin, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Piyush Chawla and Munaf Patel - were not even born.

India’s South African coach Gary Kirsten, who played against Tendulkar in the 1990, regards the batting star as his hero and the backbone of the Indian team.

Win or lose, fans will relish the sight of the two old warriors Murali and Sachin battling under the hot sun. They do not make cricketers like them any more.