Many records were broken in the recent run feast in India. One record went unnoticed. Sri Lanka became the first Test squad to contain as many as 4 wicketkeepers - Prasanna Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, TM Dilshan and Kaushal Silva.

Actually, there was a 5th wicketkeeper. At 47, the manager Brendon Kuruppu is still trim. As the oldest member of the army of wicketkeepers, Kuruppu must have been disappointed that he was not called up.

Ironically, the first choice Prasanna Jayawardene kept poorly. He either dropped catches or obstructed the slips. Virender Sehwag, who is second only to Viv Richards as a merciless hitter, made merry.

In Kanpur and Mumbai, maiden overs were rare. Even dot balls were hard to come by.

In the ODIs, Sangakkara has been even worse than Jayawardene. On Friday, two easy chances were put down off the rampant Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the same over. Luckily, Dilshan’s assault and Matthews calmness took Sri Lanka across the line.

Sanga has often relied on his exceptional batting and speaking to cover up his faults on the field. He will be remembered as the finest speaker among the world’s top batsmen. The media has been carried away by his well-spoken manner. Cricketers should be judged on their performance on the pitch not on the mike.

Sanga cannot combine the responsibility of captaincy, wicketkeeper and the leading batsmen in any form of the game. One of the three must be discarded. He has lost the first virtue of any gloveman. He does not watch the ball on to his gloves. Instead, he grabs it.

Dhoni’s fortune as a captain and keeper cannot be the benchmark for Sangakkara. Dhoni does not bat in the top order. The Indian captain is not the sword of his team’s batting. He is just a bit player in a batting powerhouse. Instead of Sanga, Dilshan or Prasanna should Read more…

Administrator IND vs SL, Sri Lanka Atapattu, Australia, Blogs.CMDN.com, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, IPL, Kanpur, Kaushal Silva, Kings XI Punjab, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Mumbai, Prasanna Jayawardene, Sri Lanka, TM Dilshan