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| Sunday, 16 March 2003 |
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Defeat to Indians turned festive air into nightmare for Lankans by Srian Obeyesekere Only the week before all of Sri Lanka had taken on a festive air. It was the Sri Lankan cricketers barnstorm entry into the Super Sixes of the World Cup that had set the tempo. Expectations began to run high. It was after Jayasuriya and his boys had walked the tightrope of near elimination after that now infamous defeat to Kenya by overcoming heavyweights West Indies and South Africa. The latter result, though by virtue of a tie, yet by cricket's mathematics knocking out the host country from contention. Back home it was felt our cricketers had done enough to sense bigger things. It was felt the time was rife for a cricket theme song. Bathiya and Santhush, two of modern day local hits, were called on to breathe fire to a composition entitled,`we can win the race.' But alas ! A week later all that seemed to turn into a nightmare. What went wrong to a point of Sri Lankan hopes having to rest on the outcome of matches outside Sri Lanka's participation for the island nation to enter the semi-finals? With some of course holding that from that point Sri Lanka did not deserve to make it on the merits and demerits of others. It was last Monday's all important match against India. A toss won and thrown away. The drafting of a virtual newcomer, Jehan Mubarak to bat in the pivotal No. 3 slot. As much an out of form Mahela Jayawardene to bat at No. 4 as India clobbered Sri Lanka by a massive 183-run margin capitalising on an ideal first lease 292-run bank. These were some of the questionable decisions that held most every Sri Lankan in disbelief. The defeat left experts as well as disgruntled fans questioning some of the team management and captaincy decisions. One t.v. station in its night news broadcast announced that `Jayasuriya's decision to put India in after winning the toss had been subject to challenge.' Indeed, the catapultation at the hands of India once again evoked memories of Sri Lanka's humiliation by Kenya before that which has seen the black African nation make a peice of history by becoming the first non-Test playing country to storm into the semi-finals in the 28-year old history of the World Cup. What is more it had a strong bearing on Sri Lanka's chances of making the last four rounded off by Kenya's facile 7-wicket win over Zimbabwe last Wednesday. It left Lankans having to hope for an Indian victory against New Zealand last Friday before meeting Zimbabwe the day after on Saturday. Both defeats to Kenya and India held similarities. In both, Jayasuriya won the toss and put the other side into bat. And at the Wanderers, the pitch had been described as ideal for batting. After the defeat, Jayasuriya blamed his bowlers and batsmen while justifying his decision to bat second on the grounds that it favoured batsmen. But even the foreign experts could not understand the logic of Jayasuriya putting the pressure on his batsmen in giving a very strong Indian batting line-up first lease with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar in flowing form leading the way. While Jayasuriya faulted pace bowlers Prabath Nissanka and Dilhara Fernando for not delivering with the ball, the captain's field placings ran into criticism in not employing a basic slip cordon at the least. As much some of the bowling changes of removing wicket takers from the attack as he did Muttiah Muralitharan after 2 overs against Australia having made a breakthrough. A decision which had come in for strong criticism by former teammate, Roshan Mahanama, now commentating on the tournament for an Indian t.v. station, who in an interview with the `Gulf News' had also noted that Jayasuriya started changing the field even before the Aussie batsmen started hitting out. What has disgusted home fans and former stalwarts in the game as well is the continuous dependence on Jayawardene despite failing to enter double figures in six innings, the last two being ducks, at the risk of elimination from the tournament. The `Sunday Observer' did ask one of authority at the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL), Anura Tennekoon who is its Chief Executive Officer, who has played the game at the highest level having worn the mantle of captaincy during his hey day, for his comments. What did he think about throwing Mubarak to the wolves at No. 3 and Jayawardene at 4 against India ? Tennekoon did offer a straight bat saying, "The thing is that decisions are taken by the tour management. It is not proper for us to comment." What did he think about winning the toss and not batting. "That is also not for us to comment from here." But could he be happy about what has been happening over there ? "When certain decisions are taken, some work, some don't," said the former Lankan captain adding, "If we win against Zimbabwe our chances of entering the semi-finals are still there". That was last Wednesday when the `Sunday Observer' contacted him. And the former Lankan captain of the 1970's. One of the technically best No. 3 batsmen during his time with some great innings to his credit including a century against the West Indies at its might. And Sri Lanka's captain at the first World Cup in 1975 when our batsmen were battered and bruised by the fiery Jeff Thomson and Denniss Lillee, but lost a close match to the Australians, Tennekoon was indeed looking forward to catching up with the action at its height in South Africa when he said, "I have an invitation from the South African Board to watch the semi-finals". While Sri Lanka's hopes hit rock bottom during the week, Kenyan cricket certainly turned a new corner. The manner in which its batsmen reached the winning target of 134 runs demonstrated by Maurice Odumbe's unbeaten 38 ringing flashes of that former great West Indian, Gordon Greenidge as the right-hander, from the left handed Greenidge, reached for the boundary. |
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