Sri Lanka must play fair by contributions made by past greats

By Ranjan ANANDAPPA

CRICKET: Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara said in an interview that Sri Lanka, unlike Bangladesh or Zimbabwe, has a rich cricket legacy. He said that the present day cricketers should keep that in mind and play for the sake of the past cricketers who made tremendous sacrifices to keep the rich tradition of the game alive for over a century.

Sangakkara said that he has great respect for the 1996 World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga and rated him as the player who turned Sri Lanka cricket topsy-turvy and brought in our own cricket culture. " We must be grateful to him and Sri Lanka cricket cannot be compared with Bangladesh or Zimbabwe. We have a very rich cricketing history,culture and a tradition which had great players in the past. These past 'greats' are the people who have given this opportunity to the present day players, Sangakkara said, and added that it doesn't belong to any individual. It has been a slow process and no one can change that system overnight. The former captain Sangakkara said that the Lankans should go forward step by step and every year the Lankans should take a step forward towards the development of the game.

He further went on to say that the nervousness or as they call 'butterflies in the stomach' prior to a match makes one more determined to perform well. He added that the day one does not get that feeling, it is the time that the particular player should quit the scene.

Sangakkara said that when the players walk out to the field that nervy feeling should be there to make you more determined and mentally tough. "Cricket is a game which is unpredictable most of the time, it cannot be played according to a set plan all the time. Your life as a cricketer solely lies on your performance and your strength", Sangakkara added.

He said that competitiveness among players is good, because any player's ambition is to end his cricketing career on a high note and to enter his name in the record books. Now batting is an important part of the game and batsmen have a special duty towards the game. Your contribution towards the game will be judged by what you have scored, that is one way of ascertaining the contributions that you have made towards the country's cricket.

There is another way a cricketer's contribution towards the team could also be found. It is the simple method of how many of your colleagues are in talking terms with you. This is a good assessment to find out your contribution in the dressing room. Kumar Sangakkara has scored 25 Test centuries and was the quickest to reach the 8000 run-mark in Test cricket. "It's good to have all these figures in mind, but the ultimate goal should be the victory of the team. All your achievements should be based on the contributions for the progress of the team". He said.

The former Sri Lanka captain stressed on the need of developing mental toughness in any given condition.

We should not find excuses in any circumstances, let it be warm or cold, instead, we should develop our mental toughness, if not it will be a big setback for the forward march, Sangakkara said.