Abu Dhabi: Sri Lanka’s misery on the cricket pitch don’t seem to be ending anytime soon. After the 5-0 ODI series whitewash, the T20I series has also slipped out of their hands. Pakistan has taken an unassailable 2-0 lead and the Lankans are left to play for pride in the last T20 in Lahore on Sunday.
Though they lost the second T20I in a thriller by two wickets and with a ball to spare, the fact remains that it was their seventh straight loss to Pakistan.
Coach Nic Pothas hailed his relatively young side, who took the field in the absence of several key players refusing to travel to Pakistan for the third T20, for showing tremendous fighting quality. “Yes, you can say this is the best match we have played. It is funny because we arrived here and played two good Test matches. Very happy with those but probably we let ourselves down in the five ODIs. Then this game was super and so the loss is a bitter pill to swallow,” said Pothas, asserting that he wouldn’t put the T20 performance in the same lines as the ODIs.
Whatever maybe Pothas’ assessment, the quality of the team is always judged with its success; the Lankans are clearly lacking in many departments and looks to be on a never ending downward spiral.
Gulf News looks at five probable reasons as to why Sri Lankan limited overs cricket has deteriorated so much:
Poor domestic cricket structure
Domestic cricket, being diluted, has effected Sri Lankan cricket the most. Increasing the teams from 12 to 24 has made the domestic cricket scene weak lacking in quality. As a result, there is a huge gap in the domestic cricket level and the international cricket. Most of the players also prefer to play in leagues aboard especially in Australia where they get paid well. Good quality players are not filtering through to the big stage as number of ‘A’ team tours have also been cut down. So there is lack of international exposure for players coming into the national team graduating from the A team.
Lack of intent among the youngsters
The commitment from the young players is questionable, especially players like Danushka Gunathilaka. The 26-year-old was supposed to step up to the challenge but ended up missing the ODI series with suspension. Failing to land up for training with his kit was clearly unacceptable. Missing him was a huge blow for Sri Lanka as he could have been very handy partnering with wicketkeeper-batsman Niroshan Dickwella upfront. The duo had twice scripted back-to-back double century partnerships against Zimbabwe. Players such as Kusal Mendes have flopped miserably. A lot was expected of all-rounder Milinda Siriwardana, who came in for the injured Asela Gunaratne, but he too was a total failure.
Coach Nic Pothas’ failure
The Sri Lankan team has not settled at all from the time Graham Ford stepped down after their underwhelming Champions Trophy campaign. Nic Pothas, who was elevated from the fielding coach to interim head coach, has not been able to stem the slide in the ODIs that has now swelled to 12 losses in a row. There is no doubt the fielding standards have improved but when was Sri Lanka a bad fielding team anyway? Pothas has clearly not managed to find a reason why Lankan batsmen are not firing. He clearly hasn’t been able to inspire and ignited the spark that could stem the rot. The Lankan board has very little time to keep experimenting and should be casting their nets immediately to find someone appropriate as coach with the World Cup only a year and a half away.
Uninspiring captain
Upul Taranga may have taken over as the captain in both limited overs formats but he hasn’t been able to prove his leadership qualities. Pulling out of the T20I series citing security reasons, at a time when his side is going through a lean patch, also didn’t show him in good light. He hasn’t been able to lift the team from their batting woes and then to be suspended twice for slow overrate shows he doesn’t have good control of the on-field proceedings. His ploys are often found wanting as he waits for things to happen. He is not at all aggressive enough to get the desired result and Sri Lanka needs to look towards someone else to shoulder that responsibility.
Injuries to key players
The biggest setback for Sri Lanka has been the injuries to all-rounder Angelo Mathews, who can very much be a gamechanger. Mathews has been struggling with calf injury for a while now. Every time he recovers, the calf gives away as soon as he starts bowling. Gunaratne, the aggressive right-handed batsman part-time medium pacer is also out with a thumb injury and so is Kusal Perera with a hamstring injury. The last-named had picked up a hamstring injury during Sri Lanka’s seven-wicket win against India in June and hasn’t recovered since then.
