Well..at the end of the day, the Sri Lankan team looked somewhat relieved, after winning the second test match against Bangladesh. This was however expected. Meaning a Sri Lankan win was expected and not a Bangladeshi fight back. On one hand, if there is a team in Australia who are found to lose their fearsomeness, Bangladesh on the other hand are coming up with surprises in test cricket as well after some amazing ones in one day internationals. Anyway, lets keep that aside for the moment. Coming to the Sri Lanka-Bangladesh tests, I feel Sri Lanka would be saying a "Oh! no never again". That was the trauma that the Sri Lankan team had to go through the series against Bangladesh.
Of course, Sri lanka would have never expected Bangladesh to come back so strongly at them whatsoever. But, Bangladeshis are no morons to not take the advantage of the over confident Sri Lankan team. I still cannot recall as to hoe the Sri Lankan team could manage a win in the first test against Bangladesh at Mirpur, when Bangladesh had gone past 400 runs. Finally, the Sri Lankan team had to rely on their old war horses Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis to register a win at Mirpur. Not to forget Sangakkara and Jayawardane who did the job with the bat for Sri Lanka.
After this match, Sri lankan captain Mahela Jayawardane never repeated the mistake what he did at Mirpur and was over cautious so as to settle a win in the second test without any trouble. Of course, the captain can never ever afford to forget this nightmare, which didn't even win the man of the match award for any of his team mates.However, the approach to the second test was not at all satisfactory. For, against a team like Bangladesh, the other teams take as much chances as possible, so as to bring in the lesser experienced ones to face the challenges of the international arena. But, Jayawardane went in with a full strengthed team to face Bangladesh in the second test.
The same old faces of Mahela and Dilshan batting and the same Murali bowling. And look at the target what Sri Lanka imposed on the Bangladesh team. A whooping 624 runs! For, a total of just above 400 would have been more than sufficient against Bangladesh, Jayawardane took no chances absolutely to put pressure on the bowlers. It would not be wrong to say the Mahela Jayawardane didn't have enough guts to dictate the bowling on the Bangladeshi batsmen. Jayawardane never wanted to take chances against even Bangladesh, fearing a major upset to him and his team. A fear of losing a test to Bangladesh was always there in the minds of Mahela Jayawardane. Mahela's efforts to win the test against Bangladesh would have even outclassed Smith's efforts to win the ongoing test series against South Afrcia.
Showing posts with label Ajantha Mendis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ajantha Mendis. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Monday, December 29, 2008
Cooool Sri Lanka!!!
Something that is to be noticed in the ongoing test series between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, wherein, a day of the test match was called off owing to elections in Bangladesh. Not at all. This is of course not at all a big issue, not it is made into one. All such things are part and parcel of the game. However, Sri Lanka does need some justification as to why the players of the caliber of Muttiah Muralitharan are still leading the Sri Lankan bowling party, even against a minnow team like Bangladesh? And much to their fortune, the major wicket takers in the ongoing first test between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are Chaminda Vass and Muttiah Muralitharan. The two bowlers who have been known to international cricket since the last decade or so.
And the major run contribution coming from the blades of Kumara Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardane. Of course, not to forget the 90 contributed by Thilan Samaraweera in the first innings. Jayawardane scores 166 and Sangakkara 67 in the second innings. The same two batsmen who put up a world record of 624 runs against South Africa some three years ago. It is as though that Sri Lanka has not realized that a cricket team consists of 11 players, as against some five to six of them saving the face or winning matches. If this is the case against a team like Bangladesh, one would imagine the fate of the same, given their run against other major teams like India and South Africa.
Its our fortune that Sanath Jayasuriya was not recalled once again for the second time, after he bid aideu to test cricket last December after the test series against England. A target of 521 runs is imposed on a Bangladesh team. What for? Are the Sri Lankans afraid of a major upset in test cricket? No doubt that Sri Lanka will for sure win the test series 2-0. But, the standard of the team as well as his ability of taking chances will surely be under question. Every test match, in addition to the result of the same, also hints the capability of the team to face bigger challenges. The common names in Sri Lankan cricket, Jayawardane, Sangakkara, Murali and Vass have been their major match winners in test cricket.
On a rare occasion, as it happened against India, Ajantha Mendis did the job. Else, taking the recent past of Sri Lankan test performances, its been Jayawardane and Sangakkara in the batting department, followed by Murali in the bowling. Now one can realize as to why the selectors had to go in for retired Jayasuriya for the test series against England. If this continues, one could even see Murali playing until the age of 45 so will Sangakkara. The only trump card being that of Mendis. This is also the case when it comes to their one day and T20 games. One cannot forget the way Murali single handedly winning the third test against England in Nottingham where he took 8/70 to see England succumb fo 104/2 to 190 all out.
If this continues, one has to wonder as to how long can Sri Lankan cricket go, once these legends call it a day. Keeping the fact of the present Australian team, after the retirement of Warne & McGrath.
And the major run contribution coming from the blades of Kumara Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardane. Of course, not to forget the 90 contributed by Thilan Samaraweera in the first innings. Jayawardane scores 166 and Sangakkara 67 in the second innings. The same two batsmen who put up a world record of 624 runs against South Africa some three years ago. It is as though that Sri Lanka has not realized that a cricket team consists of 11 players, as against some five to six of them saving the face or winning matches. If this is the case against a team like Bangladesh, one would imagine the fate of the same, given their run against other major teams like India and South Africa.
Its our fortune that Sanath Jayasuriya was not recalled once again for the second time, after he bid aideu to test cricket last December after the test series against England. A target of 521 runs is imposed on a Bangladesh team. What for? Are the Sri Lankans afraid of a major upset in test cricket? No doubt that Sri Lanka will for sure win the test series 2-0. But, the standard of the team as well as his ability of taking chances will surely be under question. Every test match, in addition to the result of the same, also hints the capability of the team to face bigger challenges. The common names in Sri Lankan cricket, Jayawardane, Sangakkara, Murali and Vass have been their major match winners in test cricket.
On a rare occasion, as it happened against India, Ajantha Mendis did the job. Else, taking the recent past of Sri Lankan test performances, its been Jayawardane and Sangakkara in the batting department, followed by Murali in the bowling. Now one can realize as to why the selectors had to go in for retired Jayasuriya for the test series against England. If this continues, one could even see Murali playing until the age of 45 so will Sangakkara. The only trump card being that of Mendis. This is also the case when it comes to their one day and T20 games. One cannot forget the way Murali single handedly winning the third test against England in Nottingham where he took 8/70 to see England succumb fo 104/2 to 190 all out.
If this continues, one has to wonder as to how long can Sri Lankan cricket go, once these legends call it a day. Keeping the fact of the present Australian team, after the retirement of Warne & McGrath.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Sri Lanka Off The track?
Well it looks like the Sri Lankan cricket team is not too much satisfied with this current tour of Zimbabwe.And that is very much obvious, given that their not only recent, but also their overall track record in international cricket has not been on par even against minnows,far from being on par with the other test playing nations.I wish it was a punishment for the Sri Lankan players to go and play Zimbabwe there.In fact touring Zimbabwe would have been a nightmare for these players I suppose.As it is for us viewers to watch a match between Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka also for television channels to telecast the same.Anyway, it is not Sri Lanka's problem as such.And how can one expect one to be?
The first thing that was evident from this tour was when it came in dropping its key players like Sanath Jayasuriya and Chaminda Vass who have had enough from the matches involving Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.But,it is really a wonder that the Sri Lankan Cricket chose to go with Muttiah Muralitharan and Kumara Sangakkara.Of course Mahela Jayawardane is needed for the sake of captaincy.I guess that the Sri Lankan Cricket as well as Muttiah Muralitharan's fans want to see their hero going past Pakistan's Wasim Akram to claim his 500th one day wicket as soon as possible.His wicket tally in one day internationals now stands at 490 scalps from 318 one day games.And probably, Sri Lankan Cricket does not want to risk the place of a keeper by going for some lesser known names.
In the first one day international,Sri Lanka batted for 33 overs to get a modest total of 127, at an average of 3.9 rpo compared to zimbabwe's 4.09 rpo, wherein even if one goes by a run-rate of 6.0 an over, the target should have been attained in just above 22 overs.And in the second one day, Sri lankans just smashed the Zimbabweans,first by getting them all out for 67 and chasing the same in a7 overs, losing just 1 wicket.Still not satisfactory?It was Mendis all the way, who is likely to become another Murali for Sri Lanka.And, in the third one day match, it looked like the Sri Lankans were all exhausted in this boring encounter,for they became all-out, for a score less than 200, to fecilitate the Zimbabwe team, so that they carry home atleast one victory.But,no..
If Sri Lanka get bowled out for less than 200,Zimbabwe get all out even before that.It is the reverse of a team scoring 300+ and the team batting second crosses even that.Once again, Sri Lankan dreams were shattered.Drawing some lessons from the third one day match, Sri Lanka now decided to lose by batting second, by losing wickets in quick succession.But,Zimbabwe batsman spoil even that.As many as eight wickets are lost by the Sri lankan team batting second.Plans change in the fifth one day as the Sri Lankan team settles for just 150 on board.But, Zimbabwe are real champions in losing the game.And this time they once again went on to prove the same, by getting themselves all-out for 133.Thus, Zimbabwe attain their goal, by losing to Sri lanka 5-0.Well..it was only after this series that I came to know that even losing is as difficult as winning.
The first thing that was evident from this tour was when it came in dropping its key players like Sanath Jayasuriya and Chaminda Vass who have had enough from the matches involving Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.But,it is really a wonder that the Sri Lankan Cricket chose to go with Muttiah Muralitharan and Kumara Sangakkara.Of course Mahela Jayawardane is needed for the sake of captaincy.I guess that the Sri Lankan Cricket as well as Muttiah Muralitharan's fans want to see their hero going past Pakistan's Wasim Akram to claim his 500th one day wicket as soon as possible.His wicket tally in one day internationals now stands at 490 scalps from 318 one day games.And probably, Sri Lankan Cricket does not want to risk the place of a keeper by going for some lesser known names.
In the first one day international,Sri Lanka batted for 33 overs to get a modest total of 127, at an average of 3.9 rpo compared to zimbabwe's 4.09 rpo, wherein even if one goes by a run-rate of 6.0 an over, the target should have been attained in just above 22 overs.And in the second one day, Sri lankans just smashed the Zimbabweans,first by getting them all out for 67 and chasing the same in a7 overs, losing just 1 wicket.Still not satisfactory?It was Mendis all the way, who is likely to become another Murali for Sri Lanka.And, in the third one day match, it looked like the Sri Lankans were all exhausted in this boring encounter,for they became all-out, for a score less than 200, to fecilitate the Zimbabwe team, so that they carry home atleast one victory.But,no..
If Sri Lanka get bowled out for less than 200,Zimbabwe get all out even before that.It is the reverse of a team scoring 300+ and the team batting second crosses even that.Once again, Sri Lankan dreams were shattered.Drawing some lessons from the third one day match, Sri Lanka now decided to lose by batting second, by losing wickets in quick succession.But,Zimbabwe batsman spoil even that.As many as eight wickets are lost by the Sri lankan team batting second.Plans change in the fifth one day as the Sri Lankan team settles for just 150 on board.But, Zimbabwe are real champions in losing the game.And this time they once again went on to prove the same, by getting themselves all-out for 133.Thus, Zimbabwe attain their goal, by losing to Sri lanka 5-0.Well..it was only after this series that I came to know that even losing is as difficult as winning.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Perfect Time To Think Over
Well..it was as though like the saying that goes "All is well that ends well" after the second ODI against Sri Lanka at Dambulla on Wednesday.But,I feel it is the right time for Dhoni's men to think,for even a modest total in 142 was found to bother the Indian batsmen who lost 7 wickets at crucial times of the match, thus swinging the pendulum each and every moment they went out to bat and the Sri Lankans came in to bowl. This clearly shows that it was Sri Lanka who took home most of the honours of the match at the end of the day.I wish Sri Lanka would have made it to the record books for one of the lowest totals defended.
God knows as what was selectors plans were,when they had to force Dhoni to send in Irfan Pathan and Virat Kohli opening when there were the likes of Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly who were dropped along with injuries striking key players like Robin Uttappa,Sachin Tendulkar and Goutam Gambhir.Anyway,"KUDOS" to Virat Kohli for striking as many as 6 boundaries in the initial phase of his career. When much is being talked about the brilliant bowling of the Indian side,it is worth mentioning that if not for the likes of Zaheer Khan who took 4-21 by rattling the top order and Praveen Kumar (3-34),the rest were just there to do a formal job of completing the remaining overs.The remaining bowlers' economy read above 4.0 runs an over in comparison with the overall run-rate of 3.68 per over.
It would not have been a disappointment had the Indian team lost even the second encounter.The Sri Lankan bowlers gave away just 4 runs in wides and no-balls compared to 11 wides bowled by the Indian bowlers.It was the captain's knock that helped India see themselves through the match in addition to 27 year old debutant Badrinath who scored an unbeaten 27.
And this time, it was not the magic of Ajantha Mendis that made the Indian batsmen to bother much about.But,it was themselves to blame for their batting debacle.Full marks for Zaheer Khan for a stupendous first spell that sent back Jayawardane ,Sangakkara,Kapugedra and Chamara Silva.Sad that he didn't get a much deserved 5 wicket haul.At the end,it looks like the selectors have to stop trying too much experimenting with the batting order before they make fools out of themselves.
God knows as what was selectors plans were,when they had to force Dhoni to send in Irfan Pathan and Virat Kohli opening when there were the likes of Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly who were dropped along with injuries striking key players like Robin Uttappa,Sachin Tendulkar and Goutam Gambhir.Anyway,"KUDOS" to Virat Kohli for striking as many as 6 boundaries in the initial phase of his career. When much is being talked about the brilliant bowling of the Indian side,it is worth mentioning that if not for the likes of Zaheer Khan who took 4-21 by rattling the top order and Praveen Kumar (3-34),the rest were just there to do a formal job of completing the remaining overs.The remaining bowlers' economy read above 4.0 runs an over in comparison with the overall run-rate of 3.68 per over.
It would not have been a disappointment had the Indian team lost even the second encounter.The Sri Lankan bowlers gave away just 4 runs in wides and no-balls compared to 11 wides bowled by the Indian bowlers.It was the captain's knock that helped India see themselves through the match in addition to 27 year old debutant Badrinath who scored an unbeaten 27.
And this time, it was not the magic of Ajantha Mendis that made the Indian batsmen to bother much about.But,it was themselves to blame for their batting debacle.Full marks for Zaheer Khan for a stupendous first spell that sent back Jayawardane ,Sangakkara,Kapugedra and Chamara Silva.Sad that he didn't get a much deserved 5 wicket haul.At the end,it looks like the selectors have to stop trying too much experimenting with the batting order before they make fools out of themselves.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Too Much Of Mendis?
Well..in the past three or four months, one devil that continues to haunt the Indian batsmen is Ajantha Mendis. It all started since the Asia cup in Pakistan, where Mendis ended up taking 16 wickets, that included a career best of 6-13 in the finals. This was followed by his record of a 26 wicket tally in the recently concluded test series against India. And in the first one dayer against the same India, this man was found to trouble the Indian batsmen once again, by tackling three batsman, the must watch delivery being that which was bowled to Yuvraj Singh, that deceived the batsman- who,misjudged it to be fairly outside the leg stump, only to realise it too late that the ball was found to straighten. Full marks for this delivery of Ajantha Mendis.
However, this man has off-late been found to show his skills only against India. To remind, there are as many as 9 test playing nations in the cricketing world.No doubt that this man shows all signs of making it big but, it would be wise not to assume too many things for the moment. And coming to the first ODI betwen India and Sri Lanka, in addition to praising Mendis for his devastating spell, isn't it India also who are making it too big in Mendis? Have they really given it all to Mendis, for they are found to come up with all praise for this man whenever they lose, despite this feat being repeated for not once but for the fifth time in succession.
Do the Indian batsmen have any plans to tackle Mendis? Either they (Indians) take the opposition lightly or they come in for full praise for the same rather than think as what could be done regarding the same. Like Anil Kumble- who before the test series bagan, took the same Mendis lightly. This was not the way the Indians were found playing during their tour of Australia earlier this year. The team that had some success against that best team in the world, is now rather giving it up against a team which is placed below in the ICC points table. All that is needed for the moment is their will to win matches. And until this happens, the result will never change I believe.
Some foolishness in the commentary team should also be noticed. This was observed when one of the commentators were found utterring "It looks like Munaf Patel has done the job for his team (after sending back Sangakkara when the score board read 45-2)", and then after a while, "Sri Lanka in deep trouble now...eight more wickets from here onwards would see India through this game..."..I wonder if anyone is unaware of the fact that each team has 10 wickets to go? Anyway thanks commentators for informing us. Thanks a lot..
However, this man has off-late been found to show his skills only against India. To remind, there are as many as 9 test playing nations in the cricketing world.No doubt that this man shows all signs of making it big but, it would be wise not to assume too many things for the moment. And coming to the first ODI betwen India and Sri Lanka, in addition to praising Mendis for his devastating spell, isn't it India also who are making it too big in Mendis? Have they really given it all to Mendis, for they are found to come up with all praise for this man whenever they lose, despite this feat being repeated for not once but for the fifth time in succession.
Do the Indian batsmen have any plans to tackle Mendis? Either they (Indians) take the opposition lightly or they come in for full praise for the same rather than think as what could be done regarding the same. Like Anil Kumble- who before the test series bagan, took the same Mendis lightly. This was not the way the Indians were found playing during their tour of Australia earlier this year. The team that had some success against that best team in the world, is now rather giving it up against a team which is placed below in the ICC points table. All that is needed for the moment is their will to win matches. And until this happens, the result will never change I believe.
Some foolishness in the commentary team should also be noticed. This was observed when one of the commentators were found utterring "It looks like Munaf Patel has done the job for his team (after sending back Sangakkara when the score board read 45-2)", and then after a while, "Sri Lanka in deep trouble now...eight more wickets from here onwards would see India through this game..."..I wonder if anyone is unaware of the fact that each team has 10 wickets to go? Anyway thanks commentators for informing us. Thanks a lot..
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