Reality check in post Sanga-Mahela era – Comment

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Though there is no imminent danger of Sri Lanka missing out on the 2017 Champions Trophy in England, the national team’s below-par displays in the ongoing five-match series against Pakistan does not paint a rosy picture for the game here.

Sri Lanka who are ranked fifth in the ICC ODI table trail Pakistan 3-1 with the final game to be played on Sunday (26 July) at Hambantota only being of academic interest to the home side, with the visitors seeking another facile win to wrap up the series 4-1.
While some of the past greats of Pakistan such as Javed Miandad and Inzamam- ul-Haq have urged the hitherto unpredictable tourists to chase consistency, it will be a case of returning to the drawing board for Angelo Mathews’ men.
What is alarming from a Sri Lankan perspective is that barring one or two players at the most – whether they are seniors or juniors – they have failed to deliver as a team in all three disciplines, and consequently Azhar Ali’s team have stolen a march over them in their own patch.
The current series has also further underscored the grim reality facing the national side in the foreseeable future, as they enter uncharted territory since the retirement of the legendary duo Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara.
From those who have been tried in their places, there has not been anyone worthy of mention so far.
From those established, Lahiru Thirimanne has managed to end a prolonged run drought with the bat alongside the likes of T.M. Dilshan, Kusal Perera and Dinesh Chandimal to name a few, from among those who have excelled sporadically.
But, the team’s biggest nightmare has been the twin disciplines of bowling and fielding.
Both areas came apart at the seams in the ODI series and needs brushing up big time before they could even think of matching sides such as Australia, England and New Zealand on current form.
How Sri Lanka is going to fix their bowling and fielding is interesting to be seen, with the former featuring bowlers who are unfit and breaking down more often than not, while the latter continues to nosedive even after the team was provided with a week’s training drills by no less a person than Jonty Rhodes just before the tour by Pakistan.
Sri Lanka need not look beyond their rivals to figure out as to the manner in which they have been outclassed, particularly in the bowling stakes.

The home side has been able to pick up only 19 wickets in comparison to Pakistan who have claimed 35 scalps in the completed four ODIs so far, which further underlines the enormity of the challenge faced by Mathews in the coming months.
The batting too has been dominated by Pakistan with their top four firing on a consistent basis, and as a result of it, with their skipper too being out of form, Sri Lanka continues to stumble from one game after another.
Unless and until Sri Lanka is able to address these issues, not to mention the sub-standard fielding (a discipline which Pakistan have improved dramatically from what they were in the past), they will continue to slip back in ODI cricket, whether be it at home or overseas.

 

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