It is not too easy to remember the last occasion when an Indian had last played such a sublime innings on a pitch which was anything but that. No wonder then, Sachin Tendulkar himself has termed it as one of the best knocks in his career, but to me, it was one that was probably the best in his fifty-overs career. Agreed that it is a bold statement to make, given the ‘big’ man’s 400 plus game career, but not often does one have a potent enough concoction of a pressure finals, a tired track, a cramping batsman and opposing bowlers who have exhibited enough prowess to get the better of most on these conditions.

In a way, it was a sheer delight watching those cover drives through the short extra cover region. Again, on a wicket where the ball exhibits the tendency of doing funny things before coming onto the bat, or even if does not, has filled enough pieces of doubts within the batsman’s minds, the most difficult shot to play is the stand-up-tall-and-punch. Even more so is the ability to pierce the gap with a barrage of fielders on the off-side; the first and the second slip is slightly uncommon in the ODIs, but what is definitely a huge rarity is the first and the second short extra cover! Yes, two fielders up close on the off-side along with the usual ring of field that included the point, covers and the mid-off!

Oh and yes, it was a pressure finals. That thing which is – was, after this and the CB series, 2008 effort – christened as one of Tendulkar’s rare Achilles Heels. Evidently, there was a sense of expectation from the side to do well, after having floundered in the previous final they had played in the country, again, against the same side – Sri Lanka.

Sharjah ’98 and the CB series ten years later were equally pressurising finals as well, undoubtedly. What was different was that the pitches in both the instances were more to Tendulkar’s liking; a ball bouncing in the bowler’s half would invariably go over the Read more…

Administrator SL Tri-Series Blogs.CMDN.com, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sangakkara, Sharjah, Sri Lanka

The World Cup 2007 final, the ICC Twenty20 championship final, and now the Compaq Cup 2009 final, have all gone to the opposition. Has Sri Lanka become the new chokers in international cricket?

Here is a team that played out of their skins, winning fans over in the Caribbean and England, with their exhilarating brand of cricket. But they look as weak as Bangladesh when it comes to the crunch matches. It is almost always the bowlers who don’t deliver on the big day. Malinga being a chief culprit. He just fails to rock the opposition in any of the crunch matches. It’s like the nerves get the better of him.

When you concede over 300 bowling first in a final, your bowlers have let you down. That’s precisely what happened to the Lankans today. Their bowlers let them down badly.

Mendis gave away 70 runs in his ten overs. Malinga gave away a shocking 81 runs in his ten. And Thushara another 71 in his ten. Three bowlers that the Sri Lankans relied upon heavily to perform could not deliver. At no point in the Indian innings did it appear that these bowlers were targeted. They just bowled inconsistently.

India was no better, their bowling and fielding looked to crumble under a Sri Lankan counter attack. But as long as Mahela allows the opposition to create inroads into our top order, with his loose, irresponsible batting, Our batting line up is stretched with the fall of the very first wicket.

It is almost inevitable that taking an early wicket will lead to two, because Sri Lanka’s number three is almost always guaranteed to fail. Here is Mahela’s last 20 knocks for Read more…

Administrator SL Tri-Series Blogs.CMDN.com, Caribbean, Colombo, Compaq Cup, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, Dambulla, England, Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene, Malinga, Mendis, RPS, SBNS, Sri Lanka, Thilan Samaraweera, Twenty20, World Cup

India’s bowlers may be a young bunch, but every member of their coaching staff, from Gary Kirsten to Robin Singh to Venkatesh Prasad has been at the wrong end of a Sanath Jayasuriya special at one time or another. The number of times the ageless left-hander has turned it on against India, especially when he was under a bit of pressure, is uncanny. Saturday was no exception.

From a brisk start to calculated acceleration, the tempo of Jayasuriya’s innings was inversely proportional to the morale of India’s bowlers. At 40, sport does not give you too many chances, and already the calls for a proper succession plan were gathering volume. The only person, it seems, who can’t hear the summons, is Jayasuriya. To put things in perspective, Kumar Dharmasena, an on-field umpire in this game, made his debut Test debut five years after Jayasuriya, and played his last game five years ago.

Some simple questions help clarify the current status quo of Jayasuriya continuing to figure in the ODI team. Is he fit? Some may have noticed a slight increase in the frequency with which he drops catches, but the manner in which he hares between the wickets, repeatedly pushing players half his age, make it clear that this is not an issue.

The second question anyone would ask is whether the extra leeway being given to Jayasuriya is holding the team back. While Sri Lanka’s results in ODIs have been up and down over the last few months, the single biggest contributor to this has been the inconsistency of their inexperienced batsmen. If anything, the team can use Jayasuriya’s services now more than ever.

The third question the selectors and the captain need to answer honestly is whether a quality young player is being denied chances because Jayasuriya’s career has now extended beyond two decades. The fact of the matter is that several young players have been given opportunities, and no-one has been able to seal a place in the team. Even Thilina Kandamby, who Read more…

Administrator SL Tri-Series Blogs.CMDN.com, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, Gary Kirsten, Kumar Dharmasena, ODI, Robin Singh, Sanath Jayasuriya, Tharanga Paranavitana, Thilina Kandamby, Venkatesh Prasad

Sri Lanka cricket is experiencing a bitter reality due to its failure to produce formidable batsmen for their middle-order. The recently concluded T20 matches against Pakistan and New Zealand and the T20 matches played during the World Cup, including its final, are classic examples of this setback, shortcoming.

In the 1996 World Cup (50 overs) and in its final, SL players of the team exposed a never-ending fighting spirit. A middle or late-order batsmen in that team, like Kumara Dharmasena, who was called ‘Unanduwa’ for his sheer grit, were well known for their enthusiasm and commitment to do well in each and every ball they faced.

Today, that fighting spirit of the Lankan players is not explicit, as it was clearly evident in the recent ODIs, when compared to the application seen when Arjuna and co. was batting those days. They turned tables in bringing the team victory at any crucial juncture of the game. They did so despite they lacked batsmen with top international recognition, like what SL enjoy today.

It is a sad situation that has overshadowed SL cricket for sometimes. Thanks to Angelo Mathew and Thilan Samaraweera, SL showed a lot of maturity and character in building up the once collapsed batting-order in the curtain-raiser of the Compaq Cup last Tuesday (8). But the resistance shown by the two batsmen –that enabled SL to comeback strongly with some fine feat in the middle-order– has to be something continuous and consistent.

Arjuna as a Fighter

Former captain and a respected bat ever since he entered the international arena, and until his retirement, Arjuana Ranatunga, the old war horse, played his excellent knocks Read more…

Administrator SL Tri-Series Angelo Mathew, Arjuana Ranatunga, Blogs.CMDN.com, Compaq Cup, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, Kumara Dharmasena, New Zealand, ODI, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thilan Samaraweera, World Cup

If South Africa’s rise to the top of the Test table can be attributed as much to their own improvement as to Australia’s fall from grace, India’s steady rise as a feared and respected one-day team has everything to do with the results they have achieved in the last eighteen months.

While Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been the engine that powered this growth, the maturing of the whole unit as a group has had a big role to play.

Each individual now knows his role in the team and is rewarded for playing his part, not merely for the runs he scores or wickets he takes.

While there are no lengthy team meetings and strategy sessions analysing the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition — the computer most used is the one between Dhoni’s ears — there’s a strong knowledge of what needs to be done to secure a win in any given game.

Sports psychologists call this situational awareness, and it is this heightened ability to assess what needs to be done and then implementing plans that separates the consistent teams from the rest.

India have won the last five bilateral ODI series they have played, but multi-team tournaments with varied opponents to best, have proved a tougher formula to crack.

Barring their maiden triangular series triumph in Australia last year, India failed to Read more…

Administrator SL Tri-Series Australia, bilateral, Blogs.CMDN.com, Champions Trophy, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, South Africa, triangular

A triangular tournament that would have been termed an insignificant one a few seasons ago, will be more in focus now, though not for a reason that will please die-hard fans of the original short form of the game.

The relevance of ODIs in the times of T20 has been quite the topic of debate lately. It will be interesting to see whether the tournament will excite fans and prove to be more than just a practice event for the season ahead as trends across the world suggest a preference for the 20-over format not only by fans, but also some administrators.

New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori, who just led his team to two consecutive wins in Twenty20 matches against Sri Lanka, feels there is quite some time to go before the shortest format actually becomes the top one. “Australia and New Zealand are going to host the 2015 World Cup. From what I know, a lot of people are waiting for it and it is too early to pass judgments,” Vettori said here ahead of the tri-series that also features India.

Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara agrees with Vettori. “One day cricket is definitely there to stay and I am sure this tournament will be interesting. It will take time to strike a balance between all three formats of the game, and the administrators, public, television channels and players will all combine to decide its fate,” he said.

As for this tournament, India have a lot at stake because the former world champions are eyeing the opportunity of making a bid on the Champions Trophy in South Africa as the top-ranked side in the world. India have never been on the summit since the present system of rankings Read more…

Administrator SL Tri-Series Blogs.CMDN.com, Champions Trophy, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, Daniel Vettori, India, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, New Zealand, ODI, Premdasa Stadium, Sachin Tendulkar, South Africa, Sri Lanka, T20

Elements from India’s Tamil dominated, pro-Tamil Tiger, state of Tamil Nadu are attempting to prevent India from touring Sri Lanka.

The Indian team is to take part in a Triangular ODI series which also features New Zealand and Sri Lanka. India are scheduled to play their first official match on the island, against New Zealand, on September 11 2009.

According to CricketNext.com, “The petitioner, advocate Joel Poul Antony, referred to alleged human rights violations against Tamils by the Sri Lankan government.”

Tamils in New Zealand, who were sympathetic to the defeated rebel group the Tamil Tigers, also attempted to block the New Zealand cricket tour. However, the New Zealand cricketers are presently in Sri Lanka.

Below is an excerpt from Cricinfo.

The petitioner, Joel Poul Antony, an advocate, said the international community would not respect India if it sent a team to play in Sri Lanka. The Madurai bench of the High Court issued notice to the ministries of Home, External Affairs and Youth and Sports Welfare as well as a private notice to the Indian board.

One feels that the petitioner(s) is unaware of the ground situation in Sri Lanka. Read more…

Administrator SL Tri-Series Blogs.CMDN.com, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, India, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Tamil Tigers, Triangular ODI series